Bounty
by AKAJipster
Summary: After the events of Prides & Prejudices, Harper has been left blind and crippled in one arm, now he has to return to some sense of normality to resume his work on the Andromeda with the World Ship only weeks away, but it’s never easy.
1. Part 1

Title: Bounty (sequel to Prides & Prejudices)  
Author: AKA Jipster  
Archive: Only Command Deck  
Disclaimer: I don't own what no longer exists sob  
Rating: PG-13  
Setting/Season: Late Season 4  
Spoilers: Abridging the Devils Divide/A Symmetry Of Imperfection/The Dissonant Interval and the first story Prides & Prejudices  
Warnings: Violence, torture, angst a plenty, sexual themes later on  
Comments/Feedback: Please, love to know what you think

Summary: After the events of Prides & Prejudices, Harper has been left blind and crippled in one arm, now he has to return to some sense of normality to resume his work on the Andromeda with the World Ship only weeks away, but it's never easy.

A/N: Alternative universe, with some nods towards cannon – sequel to the first story 'Prides & Prejudices' that can be found at 'the Command Deck dot com' under my author name, but can be read as a standalone story.

Part 1

"Crap!"

Beka raised her eyebrows on hearing a couple of minor bangs, and then paused for a moment before entering the machine shop, she crossed her arms as she finally entered and saw Harper rubbing his neck.

"Problem?" Beka asked casually, seeing Seamus Harper now stretching his shoulders.

"Gee, let me think," Harper angrily returned, as he swung around to face the blonde captain's direction. "I can't see, that's a bit of a problem," Harper seethed. "Oh and I can't use this freaking hand, and now," he gestured to the small device in his good hand. "I've blown the transmitter, I'm back to being wired up if I want to see anything," he stressed with frustration and threw the device across the shop. "Sparky?" Harper then demanded, more than asked.

"To your right, about three o'clock," Beka offered, and Harper moved his good hand, patting the surface until he located and opened the can, quickly taking a couple of gulps. "Better?" Beka asked.

Harper sighed, composing himself. "Wire?" Harper spoke without acknowledging her question, but his voice was a little softer now, almost embarrassed sounding.

Beka showed a degree of patience and understanding, as she moved over to the banks of computers and grabbed the wire, and with care she stepped behind Harper and brought the jack to his port. "Ready?"

"Ready," Harper confirmed, his voice low now. Seconds later, Harper turned around to face Beka and meekly smiled. "Thanks," he sighed, his sight partially returned via his port and the ships sensors.

"So the glasses?" Beka asked as she picked the remains up, knowing that she had only just got use to seeing Harper wearing these, she considered sadly.

"Fixable," Harper stated, and then frowned. "But the remote transmitter for the port that makes them work, that's caput and now somewhere over there in the never to be seen again part of the workshop," he then realised with a sigh, having thrown it in his fit of anger.

"You can build another right?" Beka asked, now with some concern.

Harper didn't appear too optimistic to her question. "Beka, I have so many other things to do with that world ship on our doorstop, and you know Dylan isn't exactly my biggest fan right now, maybe being confined to the workshop isn't so bad right now."

Beka frowned, the mobile transmitter had become Harper's lifeline, his hope, it worked with the glasses into which he had a built in small self contained camera system and that had allowed Harper to lead a semi normal life since his return from Yussuf's clutches, and he had even been able to leave the ship to go on missions. The small cameras were positioned within the glasses to his eye line and had worked a treat, giving Harper actual perspective vision, but without it, he was confined once again to the ship and could only see when he was jacked in via the wire, rendering him blind at all other times again.

Trance was still treating his injured eyes, but there was still only a slim chance that his sight would return, weapon kickback injuries were tricky to treat but Trance was not one to give up, and she often called Harper to the med deck for new or improved treatments but so far nothing had worked.

The mobile transmitter had become his lifeline, and was basically a modified wireless jack, and had been the key to the short term solution for his blindness. Harper had somehow amended it to carry the amount of information required to give him sight, picking up the transmissions from the glasses straight to the transmitter jacked into his port, and that fed the information to his brain, giving him the stable connection he needed to see.

The more standard mobile jack connectors were unable to keep a strong constant link, and when he was relying on it for sight he didn't appreciate the pictures continuing to cut out when he was near high voltage appliances. As the engineer, that was a major downside but he had been able to fix it, until the transmitter and the glasses were broken during the last mission he went on.

Beka frowned again on remembering that last mission, but she decided to push Harper into fixing the problem, rather than accepting defeat, as he had come so far in the past six weeks since he had lost his sight. For a long while during that time Beka had been concerned that Harper wouldn't bounce back, but she couldn't accept that Harper would give up, even though he had lost so much to Yussuf and the past six weeks had not been easy for him.

"Harper, do you remember that being stuck in one place drives you crazy? Remember what happened before?" Beka gestured. "I'm not going back to three am disturbances because you decided in some drunken haze that it would be fun to play drums on my quarter's doors," Beka spoke up again, with a tired air now. "And not having accessible sight, Harper, I'm sure that Dylan will understand if you dedicate some time to fixing your transmitter, and regaining your temporary sight."

Harper just frowned, not looking as convinced as Beka. "You didn't see him, or rather hear him, Beka, I'm on my second strike and I'm not going to do anything to piss the guy off, ok?" Harper explained and moved to the workbench, taking care to check the wire coming from his neck so as not to catch it on anything. "I can't risk losing anything else," he said as an afterthought and with a touch of fear in his voice.

"Harper," Beka frowned. "What happened with the Patriarch, it wasn't entirely your fault, so stop beating yourself up about it."

"And what about Rommie going all shut down on us?" Harper now asked with an argumentative air.

"Another admittedly unfortunate incident," Beka offered, although even she had difficulty sounding convinced.

She simply knew now that what happened in Yussuf's clutches had affected Harper more than she thought it would, he wasn't his old self, he was far from it, but Harper had so much to deal with and she knew he wasn't getting the full care he deserved. With the World Ship and other Commonwealth troubles, she knew that Harper's needs were being neglected but she also knew that he wasn't helping himself.

There was a lot of conflict about him now in the way he worked and talked, he seemed to resent being there a lot of the time and now Dylan had finally lost his patience with him. Dylan needed Harper on board one hundred percent, but he wasn't getting that, and was now reversing his psychology on Harper, but it wasn't working to plan. Harper was now showing even more conflict towards them as a result, Beka could feel that just as much as Dylan had lost faith in Harper, the reverse was rapidly becoming true, but she had to concede that he was also making mistakes, disobeying orders, and he was no longer as reliable.

Was she surprised, did she blame Harper? Beka couldn't, she saw he was suffering and it pained her to see it and not be able to help him, but she could also understand Dylan's need to have an engineer he could trust, and after the time bridge incident, he could no longer trust Harper. They'd all taken Harper's injuries into consideration, they'd all supported him when he convinced them that he could work with his injuries and that they'd never regret it, and he had spectacularly let them all down, but she still couldn't blame him, unlike Dylan.

"Face it, Beka, I'm making mistakes and I'm a freaking liability to this crew," Harper snapped as if reading her mind, whilst bringing her attention back to the present.

Beka watched as Harper focused on some materials on the bench. "What happened would have happened whether you were blind or not, crippled or not, Harper," Beka argued strongly. "The Patriarch kidnapped you, Harper, came after you specifically, and it was your mind, and your thirst for science that made you activate that bridge, nothing else," she insisted with conviction. "And with Andromeda, she simply malfunctioned, and wasn't it something that you did to her program before you were blinded that affected her ability to operate?" she questioned, desperate to get through to her friend. "Its just coincidence and a heap of bad luck, Harper, that's all this is, so please don't let this affect your recovery."

"You can't prove that," Harper stated strongly, in defiance, and in conflict. "And Dylan doesn't exactly agree with your theories."

"Stuff Dylan," Beka stressed now with frustration, this was about Harper not Dylan she seethed to herself. "Who's word is more important to you, his or mine?"

Harper sighed. "I don't want to be thrown off the ship," he simply said, with genuine fear. "I can't survive off of this ship, I need this ship, Beka, you know that," he said with a sorrowful fear about him.

"I know you do, Harper," Beka stepped closer, in understanding and hating that Harper was so dependant now on the Andromeda. "And that's why I have been giving Dylan endless crap about the way he's been treating you lately."

"Do you really blame him?" Harper countered. "We have the freaking world ship just days away and he has some half witted engineer struggling to even see, let alone help him," Harper looked upwards. "He wasted valuable time coming to my rescue, and I know the Commonwealth have been on his back about it, and for what?"

Beka was already shaking her head. "Don't Harper."

"So I could go and screw things right up by giving the Magog future more evolved versions of themselves to add more crap to the fan, yeah, go Harper, way to pay back the faith Dylan put in me, when he thought I was worth rescuing," Harper stressed and put his hands flat on the bench, as he hunched over, letting his head drop to his chest. "I shouldn't have come back here, and you should have left me there with Yussuf, seeing as I can't do anything but muck things up maybe I'm only good for being a stupid slave now."

Beka reached out and placed a hand on Harper's back and noticed the slight flinch, through the thin material of his shirt she could still feeling the healing scars that had been inflicted on him at the hand of Yussuf's pride and she took care not to further aggravate them with her comforting touch.

"Harper we know it's been tough, the past six weeks have been one thing after another for you since you returned with these injuries, but you have to give it more time," Beka encouraged, allowing Harper a small amount of self pity time.

"If you haven't noticed, Beka, time isn't something that we have a lot of," Harper sighed.

"You've been doing great, and you were almost back to normal with those glasses, so please just give them one more chance, please, for me?" Beka pleaded.

"So instead of the Patriarch, the advanced Magog can break them and in one action completely blind me again rendering me helpless, and make me dependant on them so this time I follow their orders or become a mother to their kids?" Harper protested, he moved away from the Beka with anger, and to a console against the wall. "Beka, I really appreciate it that you keep taking out time for a loser like me, but really, I'm not worth it, maybe once but now, I'm just a corpse waiting to happen, and that's just the truth, nothing more."

"You are not a liability, Harper," Beka insisted, and inside she was raging about the events that had occurred to further crush Harper's spirit, he had been slowly coming around after the events and horrors of his time with Yussuf's pride, and then the Patriarch had turned up, forcing Harper to work on some time bridge that Harper succeeded with, sending Harper crashing into Dylan's bad books.

Beka now sighed, she knew deep down that he had needed little encouragement to work on that bridge, to prove his genius and his worth, but a part of her also wondered if maybe he was spiralling out of control, if he was on some death wish, or some mission to turn all those who care about his sorry ass, against him, starting with Dylan.

"Maybe you need to get a refill from Dylan," Harper soon spoke up again, having considered Beka's words. "He'll soon refresh your memory about me, about how I can't be trusted, how I've let the side down," Harper complained as he started working on something, and it was unnerving to watch him work but for different reasons to not trusting him.

His eyes still blind, were looking past the object he had in his hands on the workbench, and Harper was forced to use the ships sensors to focus and see the object before him, from angles that were not from his eyes perspective but various views from around the workshop, Rommie's eyes almost. Beka could only watch with both sadness and respect, seeing Harper confined to the one area force to work like this, so dependant on one wire to hook him into the seeing world but he was not giving up, and she knew he wasn't giving himself enough credit for his own efforts.

A yelp from Harper caused Beka to rush forward and she saw a fresh burn from the welder marking the top side of his hand. "Stop Harper," Beka encouraged. "Let me see."

"It's nothing, it's just the dead hand," Harper attempted to dismiss.

"No, Harper, you felt that," Beka realised. "I heard you react, and if it this hand is still completely paralysed and dead, you wouldn't have felt it like you did," Beka stressed and grabbed the hand, still encased in a protective cast.

"Some of the feeling started to return yesterday," he shrugged. "It's no big deal, Trance knows about it but I still can't move my fingers," Harper complained.

"But it's obviously healing," Beka exclaimed with some joy.

"Not if I keep welding it to my latest pet projects," Harper reasoned, mocking his efforts with anger.

Beka smirked. "Why did you do that exactly?" she teased, trying to lighten his mood slightly, trying to find something of her old Harper in his response.

"Yeah, like I did it on purpose," Harper attempted to play along but it sounded bitter more than joking.

Harper then hesitated, and Beka saw the doubt immediately, he had no idea to what extent the damage was that he had done to his hand, and he was relying on her to let him know what to do about it, without wanting to ask.

"We should get this looked at, it looks painful," Beka finally suggested with care.

Harper seemed agitated by her recommendation. "That means disconnecting, that means eternal darkness, and it means finding my way to Med Deck without the lights on," Harper explained with frustration clear.

"It means that when this hand heals, it'll be in some sort of condition that you might be able to use it again," Beka stated firmly. "Look, I'll come with you, make the journey a little bit easier, ok?"

Reluctantly Harper agreed and with a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes and disconnected himself from the ship, and he was plunged immediately back into the darkness that he had grown to despise. Beka's arm snaked around his shoulders, bringing small comfort, and they began to walk together.

TBC


	2. Part 2

Part 2

The flexi was thrown onto the desk and travelled a short distance, before a hairy hand reached out to take it. The room was darkened, the only light coming from the moonlight outside, until the flexi was activated and partially illuminated the room.

"Do you know him?" a husky male voice asked, his features hidden by the shadows.

"Know him? This thing has been a thorn in my side for many years."

"You want him dead?"

"It's all I've ever wanted."

"You have one month to deliver."

"Seamus Harper will be dead long before that, I can guarantee my future children on that fact."

"Just kill him, and you'll get the rest of your money, if he's not dead in a month we will find you, Gerentex."

The rat like features appeared in the light of the room, a sly if hesitant smile across his face. "For this, I'd almost be inclined to pay you, but as it is, killing this pest will be a joy and the money is just a bonus."

Taking the flexi, and the first part of his payment, Gerentex left the room.

* * *

The drift was busy, hindering Harper's progress as he tried to navigate the route back to the Maru, whilst also carrying items that he could barely hold under his arms, but he was already late in returning so needed to hurry.

Being without sight didn't help, and he was relying in the flaky reception he was getting from the drifts sensors through the standard wireless remote in his port, and his hastily fixed dark glasses. The pictures being transmitted into his mind cut out every ten to fifteen seconds, and it seemed that it was always at those times that people chose to walk directly into his blinded path.

Harper's frustration grew, as his weakened arm started to buckle carrying the items he had acquired, he was still a good five minutes away from the Maru and it couldn't be further away as the goods finally slipped from his grip, just as the pictures in his mind blacked out again, leaving him blind and stranded for the moment.

Kneeling down, Harper began to gather together what he could feel for the fallen items with his good hand, whilst also trying not to drop anything else. Finally the signal returned and he was able to find the final item, and continue his hectic journey. The past couple of weeks since he'd broken his glasses had been the worse he could remember in living memory, his temper grew shorter and his patience was now non-existent. It's why he now walked alone, struggling with the items he had purchased, having snapped at everyone who offered to help him and refusing their help, in the end they'd left him to it, because it was what he had screamed he had wanted.

As the signal cut out again, plunging him into darkness once more Harper found more of his items fell from his hold, and the ridiculousness of his situation hit him hard suddenly as he collapsed to the ground with silent lonely despair. No one offered to help, they all walked around him, and he felt some people brush past him not even noticing him there, no doubt kicking all that he had purchased across the ground.

"I can't do this any more!" Harper screamed snatching his useless glasses from his face, but the noise of the drift drowned him out amongst the crowds.

Harper then felt someone stood over him, and then he could feel fur on the back of his neck, for a moment Harper froze until his logic told him a Magog would have sent all those around them screaming away in terror, but he could hear normal background noise.

"Seamus, you're as good as dead."

"Who, what?" Harper spoke with surprised shock. "I know you," he then added, recognising the tones in the voice.

"There's a bounty on your head, young Harper, and I already have half of it, I could kill you right now but I want you to suffer with the knowledge that the next time we meet, it will be to kill you, and it will be this easy."

"Gerentex?" Harper then spoke with disbelief, as the feed returned some sketchy images to his port, reverting to the drifts sensors now that he had discarded the glasses. Harper was seeing himself with Gerentex behind him, from a position high above him, probably a feed from the drift security circuit, and he relaxed immediately almost sounding disappointed.

"You are blind, that is a nice development, it's been so much fun watching you struggle," Gerentex spoke with joy. "But you sound a little down," he then added and forced the human to his feet, with Harper being able to do very little to stop him as the images to his port cut out again. "Let's go send your annoying friends a message shall we?" Gerentex announced brightly.

"What?" Harper asked, struggling now and almost breaking free, but there were too many people to bump in to, and without sight he couldn't get cleanly away.

Gerentex responded to Harper's attempts to escape by roughly ripping the remote out of the data port causing the engineer to scream out, before Harper found himself in total darkness, with his port deactivated, as he returned to complete blindness. He was pushed along, quickly losing his sense of direction as Gerentex led him down a backstreet, and soon the noise of the drift grew quieter until Harper felt Gerentex tugging at him to stop.

A cold metallic sensation pressed hard against his cheek, and the blindness didn't hinder Harper's imagination, knowing that Gerentex was holding a knife to his face, and he froze on instinct. Harper began to make the realisation that at some point, he must have really pissed off the rat face he knew as Gerentex.

"I really should kill you right now, but you know I've never liked the easy life, and I do have a month to do the job properly," Gerentex idly spoke, seemingly with all the time in the world at his disposal, and with some brightness in his voice.

"You always talk too much, and forget the actual point!" Harper snapped.

There was silence from the rat, as Harper felt the blade warming against his skin. "Do you want me to put you out of your misery?" Gerentex now asked, with an eerie seriousness. "It can't be fun, being blind and a cripple, all alone without your annoying friends to help you."

"Spend your money well," Harper simply said, answering Gerentex's question in a roundabout way.

"I never thought I'd see the day that Seamus Harper, the highly annoying scrawny human runt that has continued to bug me, would beg me to kill him," Gerentex sneered with glee, in victory.

"Harper?" a faraway cry caught both their attentions.

"Your pesky friends, I should have known that they wouldn't be far away, shame, that does mean you have to keep breathing for now," Gerentex teased, now knowing Harper's death wish.

Defiant in the face of Gerentex's threat, Harper remained unmoving and without emotion, not even reacting to the voice of Beka who continued to call his name. When Gerentex lifted up both of Harper's hands, the human did nothing to stop him as the rat faced fiend brushed the blade of his knife over Harper's unprotected wrists.

"Just do it," Harper spoke softly, almost darkly.

"I will," Gerentex smiled to Harper's unseeing eyes. "To cover my tracks, and give you grief, I can't begin to imagine what will Rebecca think when she finds this knife in your hand, and your attempt to kill yourself," Gerentex spoke evenly. "Almost makes me want to stick around, and see," he idly spoke.

Harper braced himself, as Gerentex finally went silent, a sure sign that in seconds something would happen and then it did. Harper grimaced with the sharp acute pain that erupted in his right wrist, followed rapidly by the same pain in his left wrist as the knife sliced through his fragile skin. With care Gerentex placed the knife in Harper's hand, taking care to ensure the knife was covered in the human's prints to completely cover his tracks, and make it seem like a proper attempt.

"I promise you, Harper, that when I do return to kill you, it'll be a lot more fun for the both of us," Gerentex sneered, and disappeared into the night.

Shaking now with delayed shock, Harper instinctively held both his bleeding wrists around his torso, as he collapsed to his knees. The pain was intense but strangely satisfying, as he fell to the ground and lay in the familiar and comforting darkness. It wasn't as though he hadn't thought of this, he has considered it many times but had always stopped himself with stupid hope, but now he had done it, albeit with assistance from a rat, and he embraced the slow feeling of dying that he felt, for the first time in months he felt content.

"Harper! My god, what happened, what did you do?" Beka quickly spoke as Harper felt her beside him, and as she rolled him onto his back the knife clattered to the ground from his grip.

Beka was silent, and her silence frightened Harper who had expected his friend to freak out, to yell at him, do something other than the deadly silence that now greeted him. He heard material ripping, as his head rolled slightly, and then the feeling of his wrists being wrapped tight. Beka then left him for a moment, and Harper began to feel panicked fear, before he felt himself being lifted up and then being forced to walk, as Beka took some of his weight.

"I found the stuff your brought, well most of it I think, Trance has taken them back to the Maru," Beka spoke with hurried breaths, moving quickly. "We saw you fall, but we were the other side of the square and then this procession blocked us," she continued talking without pausing for breath, as Harper wearily listened without comment. "Harper, you're not alone, ok? We'll get through this, all of us."

Harper let his head fall, tired and struggling to keep up with Beka's pace, she was carrying most of his weight now, as they continued the hectic pace back to the Maru.

TBC


	3. Part 3

Part 3

After what seemed an eternity, Harper felt the ramp of the Maru, and he stumbled alongside Beka as she now partially carried him towards the bunks.

"Trance!" Beka yelled. "We need blood, and the transfusion gear set up, quick!" she added, showing the first acknowledgement of what Harper had done and the concern he had caused her.

Beka lay Harper down, and placed her hand against his forehead to check for fever. "Stay awake, Harper," Beka encouraged, seemingly not concerned by his lack of response as she continued to fuss over him, removing her makeshift bandages as Trance arrived with the medical kits.

"What happened?" Trance asked without emotion.

"I found him like this," Beka gestured, and neither of them dared suggest the intentions of the injuries. "He's lost a lot of blood, but I think I reached him in time," she noted, as Trance quickly cleaned the cuts, and swiftly applied fresh pressure bandages to his wrists to stem the still bleeding cuts. "He went out without the cast on again," Beka then added with disapproval.

Beka then kneeled beside Harper's cot, and she placed a comforting hand around his head, gently stroking his hair. "We're right here, Seamus, Trance and I," she said with fondness. "You're ok, everything will be ok."

* * *

"I know what you're going to say," Beka pre-empted as she stood in the meeting room on the Andromeda, looking in turn at the faces of Dylan, Rommie, Rhade and Trance. "But I know Harper will crack this, he's not lost to us."

"He's already cracked," Rhade remarked with a frown, crossing his arms.

"Beka, we simply do not have time for this," Dylan stressed, but showing some concern. "The World Ship is going to appear any day now and I can not be dealing with one crew member who appears more concerned with taking his own life, than saving it."

Beka looked away in frustration, but Trance now spoke up. "I don't think Harper attempted to take his own life," she offered, and she suddenly had everyone's attention, including Beka. "I've examined the knife that Beka brought back, that Harper supposedly used to inflict these injuries."

"The knife was in Harper's hand," Beka pointed out.

"Yes, his finger prints were all over the handle," Trance agreed.

"So how does this confirm that he didn't harm himself?" Dylan questioned unsure.

"The finger prints were not only from his right hand, but from his left hand too," Trance spoke up. "For someone who has no mobility in his left hand, I'd like to know how he was able to grip the knife, as well as slice open his right wrist," she explained, then continued. "I have rechecked his hand, and there is no possible way he could have gripped that knife, let alone use it, but the prints seem to want to suggest otherwise."

There was silence in the room now, as Trance's revelation sunk in. Beka moved back to her seat, looking stunned. "Someone tried to kill Harper?" she questioned, and her breathing quickened. "And tried to make it look like suicide?"

"It would seem that way," Trance agreed calmly.

"Who?" Rhade now asked, leaning forward.

"Yussuf," Dylan answered as the obvious thought.

"Hasn't that Nietzschean done enough?" Beka snapped.

Rhade frowned. "Harper was marked as his slave, his property."

"We haven't heard from him in nearly two months and now he tries to make it look like Harper is taking his own life in some dank dark ally way?" Beka questioned. "It just doesn't seem like his style."

"I have to agree," Rhade added. "Yussuf would not lower himself to kill a kludge, and one so weak to start with," Rhade remarked, re-crossing his arms.

"Harper is not weak," Beka corrected sharply.

"I mean with him at this time being blind and crippled," Rhade explained with care. "He would have hired someone to do this, if it is indeed his work."

"But why has it taken so long for Yussuf to strike back, and why does he feel the need?" Dylan questioned now. "Harper saved his life, and has not said a word to bring shame to Yussuf," Dylan pointed out.

"That confuses me too," Rhade explained. "And why Harper has also not said a word, he has not mentioned someone making an attempt on his life, and he let us believe that he did try to take his own life."

"That's what concerns me," Beka spoke up, and she got to her feet again. "I need to speak to him," she stressed.

"Let us know if you find anything useful," Dylan responded.

"Is Harper worth it now, now it's a little more interesting to you than just self harm?" Beka asked bitterly.

"Beka," Dylan spoke with authority. "This changes everything, and if Yussuf is back on the scene then we need to ensure he does nothing to disrupt our plans, or further cause further harm to Harper."

"Right, your plan first, Harper second," Beka almost snarled in reaction, and left the room before Dylan could respond.

* * *

Beka took a deep breath before entering the quarters where Harper was currently situated. On walking inside she saw him lying on his cot, seemingly asleep. It had been only in the last few weeks that she had got use to seeing a slowed down version of her friend, no longer as active as he used to be before he had his sight taken away from him.

"Seamus?" Beka ventured and saw Harper move slightly, and his sightless eyes opened, but only as a token gesture. "How are you feeling now, better?"

Harper didn't respond, other than a low grunt as he shifted so he was lying on his back. She saw his heavily wrapped wrists, and the cast now firmly back in place on his left hand, and she could also see that he was tired after his ordeal.

"Who did this to you?" Beka asked finally breaking the momentary silence, as she reached his side. "Took us a while to realise it, but there is no way that you could have done this to yourself, with your left hand still incapacitated."

Harper showed no reaction or emotion to her words, he had hardly spoken a word since the incident, and seemed more withdrawn now than at any other time.

"Harper," Beka persisted, and she tentatively placed her hand on his upper arm, for comfort. "Who did this to you?"

Harper finally frowned, showing slight emotion but he calmly answered. "Gerentex."

"Rat face?" Beka spat with surprise and horror. "Why didn't you say something?" she demanded, but Harper didn't respond, returning to his silence. "Harper, what did Gerentex say?"

Harper sighed now, and partially shrugged. "I have a bounty on my head, and he already has half of it."

"If that's true then why didn't he just kill you?" Beka asked.

"He wants me to suffer," Harper smirked now, the irony not lost on him in his darkened and pained world. "Seems to think the threat of him will somehow concern me."

Beka smirked now, but only in Harper's strange reaction to the news, and knowing the history between the rat and Harper. Her concern though was now only rising with this revelation, and something that had been troubling her since she had found him, now needed an answer.

"Harper, did you want to die, did you fight him at all?" she now asked with seriousness. "I know you, and you didn't seem panicked or distressed when I found you, you seemed almost calm, it's why I didn't think anyone else had done this."

Harper remained silent but with more emotion being seen in his features now. "What did I have to fight for?" he then quietly asked.

"Your life, Seamus," Beka returned quickly, and with conviction. "OK, so right now it might suck in your mind, but this isn't your whole life, Harper, it's just a couple of really bad months, ok?" She stated as Harper rolled onto his side, and Beka could now see the first tears escaping his sightless eyes. "Seamus," Beka immediately responded by embracing him as best as she could, as he lay on his cot. "Things will get better, they have to."

"The World ship is almost here, I have a bounty on my head, I'm blind, useless, and," Harper mumbled, but stopped without reason.

"And what?" Beka asked with curiosity, but Harper failed to respond and she sighed. "Ok, Harper, I'm only going to ask this once," she decided and considered her next words with care. "Do you want me to arrange you some leave from this ship, the mission, just for a little while?" she asked. "Allow you to lay low and properly recover from the past few weeks?"

In his darkness, Harper seemed to be considering her question, his eyes still wet. Beka brushed back the stray strands of hair from his face, and she had found that in recent weeks since he returned in the state he was, Harper had been more susceptible to her touch, where before he had been less inclined to let people touch him. His blindness had made him feel vulnerable and Beka had responded by reassuring him with her touch, that seemed to help him at times like now, where he was down, she just wished he didn't get down as often as he did.

"No," Harper finally spoke.

"Are you sure?" Beka checked.

"I can't run, this is my home," Harper offered. "I know where things are," he added, reminding her once more of his situation now, and what he had to take into consideration.

"Ok, well get some rest and I'll come back soon," Beka spoke brightly, as she got to her feet.

"You don't have to," Harper responded, almost speaking into his pillow as his tiredness became clearer.

"I want to," Beka stressed, as she always did. "I'll bring some food with me, and we can play that name that tune game again, and this time I'll win," she added, with a smile.

Harper simply smirked, pleasing her more than he could know, as he settled down and closed his eyes. Beka left him alone, and headed towards command to speak to the others about what she had learned, inwardly cursing the rat she knew as Gerentex.

* * *

"Gerentex?" Dylan spoke up, as Beka looked back at him with Trance, Rommie and Rhade looking on.

"The rat face himself," Beka sighed. "Remember him?" she asked, and saw Dylan frown before nodding his head.

"Why didn't Harper tell us about this in the first instance?" Rhade asked with confusion. "Someone wants to kill him and it slips his mind?" he questioned.

Trance moved forward. "Gerentex doesn't concern Harper, and therefore I guess this bounty will not either," she said with conviction. "He thinks that Gerentex is a fool."

"A fool who has already been paid good money to kill Harper," Beka stressed. "With the promise of more on delivery," she added with concern.

"So what do we do?" Dylan asked.

"Harper wants to stay on board, and I'm fairly sure Gerentex can't get him on the Andromeda," Beka stated.

"If this Gerentex has any sense he wouldn't attempt to come any where near the Andromeda whilst we're assigned to deal with the World Ship issue," Rhade noted calmly.

"Let's just keep our wits about us, just in case," Dylan decided. "If Harper needs to leave the ship for any reason, he has an escort for the foreseeable future," he added. "Regardless," he stressed remembering the tantrum Harper had previously had that had meant they had left him to wander the drift alone, resulting in Gerentex's attack.

"Dylan, can we talk?" Beka then asked, and Dylan nodded his head, gesturing for Beka to walk with him as they left command.

"I bet you know what this is about," Beka spoke soon after they left command.

"Harper," Dylan guessed.

Beka sighed before continuing. "Dylan, I know we've had this talk a thousand times in the past couple of months, I know I keep asking you to give Harper time, but he's at the lowest I've ever seen him and it doesn't help that he thinks you are ready to get rid of him."

"I'm not looking to get rid of him, Beka," Dylan stressed.

"I know that, you know that, but what about Harper?" Beka stressed. "He's only hearing you, Dylan, he can't see your expression when you tell him things like 'this is your final warning'," Beka added.

"I've backed off of him since I said that, I have not done anything since to make Harper think I'm following it through," Dylan protested.

Beka shook her head. "Look at me, Dylan," Beka now asked, and they both stopped as Dylan did as she requested. "Close your eyes," she then demanded and with reluctance, and hesitation Dylan once again complied. "Dylan, you're on your final warning, one more step out of line, and you leave me no choice," Beka spoke with authority.

Dylan listened, and heard the tone of Beka's voice and had to admit that without being able to look at her reaction, he could only guess at her expression as she spoke, and it wasn't a pretty picture. There was silence now, and Dylan waited for Beka to speak but she said nothing.

"Ok, I get your point," Dylan finally spoke, but still there was no response so Dylan ventured in opening one eye, and found Beka had left him alone and he hadn't even realised. It took him a moment more to realise that she was making another point, he hadn't spoken to Harper since disciplining the engineer, and he too had probably left Harper wondering what was going on, just as Beka had left him alone in the corridor.

Just then Rommie appeared in holographic form, informing Dylan of an incoming communication from the Commonwealth, and Dylan was left no choice but to head to command to respond, but with the intention of dealing with the Harper matter when he had some spare time.

TBC


	4. Part 4

Part 4

Alone in his quarters, Harper found that he was getting use to his own company and he was beginning to feel comfortable with the darkness. In his right hand he held the jack for his port, knowing that in a matter of seconds he could easily connect to Rommie's matrix, and once again link to the internal sensors to 'see', but a part of him wanted to finally accept the blindness.

He let the jack go, and moved his right hand to his left to feel the scar that still remained on the top of his left hand, that had caused him the damage and paralysis. Trance had been working on treating the damaged skin, but he could still feel the disrupted area.

Harper soon moved his hand to his shoulder, and then struggle to feel behind him until he felt the raised scar tissue that couldn't be treated. During his life on Earth, he remembered seeing humans with the scar he now carried, and the contempt he had for them. Quickly he moved his arm back to his side, and took a long deep breath, and felt the loneliness that seemed to plague him now.

Getting to his feet, Harper moved with ease around his quarters, confident in knowing his way around without sight. He found the stool by his main console and easily moved his hand over the surface, to activate the console.

"Rommie, do you mind if I play in your matrix?" Harper casually asked.

"Harper, you know you don't have to ask," Rommie's voice returned.

"I want to work with privacy mode though, is that ok?" Harper responded, and awaited her answer.

"I don't see a problem so long as I can have emergency access, should the need arise," Rommie spoke with concern.

"Emergency only, but playback of what I'm about to do only on Beka's request, ok?" Harper compromised. "Sorry, Rom doll, no peeking."

"What are you planning to do?" Rommie's interest was now peaked.

"I just want to investigate something, it's nothing to worry about, honest," Harper spoke with tiredness.

Rommie examined Harper's vitals and responses, and they met with her satisfaction. He wasn't stressed, or anxious, so she decided to meet Harper's requests and granted him a private connection. "You may hook up to sector nine fourteen," Rommie confirmed. "That area is off limits to all but you, and can only be accessed at a later date by second in command, Rebecca Valentine."

"Thanks Rommie," Harper grinned, as he inserted the wire and soon found himself adjusting back into a bright and seeing world, inside Rommie. Looking around for a moment, to fully appreciate the colours and light, he could see the security around him that Rommie had afforded him. Harper then sat down, and pulled down various information channels.

Treating the information channels like small animals around him, Harper began. "I'm looking for all known records on recovering sight from you," Harper gestured to one screen fondly. "And any reference to weapon kick back injury recovery download to my port," he ordered clearly, and then turned to another screen. "And you, connect securely to any exterior information archive, I want all known records on the rat faced Gerentex for the past year, who he's been seen with and what business he has done, especially anything connected to Yussuf, show me," he stressed, almost talking down to the screen.

Harper then settled back closing his eyes to return in part to his own mind, his safe place, as he let the information consume him focusing on finding an answer or two.

* * *

"What's he doing in there?" Beka asked, now sat in Harper's quarters and seeing Harper slumped over his console, jacked into Rommie's matrix, she had arrived a few minutes earlier to keep Harper company. "Is he ok?"

"Harper is fine, health wise," Rommie confirmed. "But I am unsure what he is doing, he requested a secure connection."

"He's up to something," Beka immediately concurred.

"I am not authorised to find out what he is doing," Rommie hinted, as she appeared in hologram form opposite her image on the screen.

"Meaning what?" Beka asked.

"I am not authorised, but someone else might be," Rommie answered.

"Me?" Beka checked with surprise. "Harper has given me permission to pry?"

"In an emergency," Rommie revealed.

"This isn't an emergency, I'm just here to keep him company, Andromeda," Beka frowned.

Rommie seemed undeterred. "I just thought you should know; if indeed Harper is up to something and we need to find out," she stated. "At a later time," she quickly added.

Beka simply smiled. "Ok, I get the message," she confirmed.

"I am sensing his return," Rommie announced before blinking out of sight both as a hologram and on the monitor.

Beka looked over to see Harper stir, and in seconds he was disconnecting himself from the Matrix. "Harper, just so you know, I'm here and I'm sat on your bunk, ok?" Beka informed him, so he wouldn't freak out without sight.

"Hey, Beka," Harper simply responded, and she noted his brighter mood immediately, there was a positive air around him that she hadn't seen in a long while.

"Whatever you were doing, it seems to have cheered you up a lot," Beka noted unsure. "Should I even ask?"

"It was all clean and not in any way self satisfying if that's what you mean," Harper confirmed, picking up immediately on Beka's first thoughts. He got to his feet and made his way to his bunk, with Beka helping him the last few steps so he could return safely. "I was just doing something positive," he shrugged.

"Good, well that's good," Beka enthused, a little surprised. "What?" she then added with curiosity.

"What's your stock like with Dylan?" Harper asked.

"Pretty good, I've not done anything too bad lately, and he hasn't pissed me off too much," Beka answered.

"Good, you know earlier that you said I just had to say it and we could leave?" Harper began, but seemed to already sense Beka's expression fall.

"I was offering you the chance to leave, not us, Harper, the World Ship is rumoured to already be in our system, and it's a system that isn't ready for it," Beka insisted. "I can't leave, not until this threat is dealt with."

Harper seemed to be considering her words, as he sat back slightly, unable to hide his disappointment. "Harper, I'm sorry but you had your chance to leave and it's too late now, we're heading to something called the Arkology, we've just picked up a ship that needs our help," Beka finished, putting her hand on Harper's knee seeing his spirit fall once again.

"It's ok, it can wait," Harper spoke, without further explanation.

Andromeda's voice then interrupted them, as she appeared in hologram form before them. "Harper, Dylan requests your presence in the meeting room to discuss the Arkology situation, and maybe offer technical assistance to their people to defend against the threat."

"Come on, I'll walk with you," Beka encouraged the now silent Harper to his feet, and without letting him go they headed to the meeting room.

* * *

Harper was lost in his own thoughts as he sat around the table; the darkness consuming him, having opted out of jacking into Rommie's sensors for the meeting. Ambassador Galdamez was boring him, his voice so pathetic and when he started showing empathy for the Magog, it was all Harper could do to stop his blood boiling, and for once he was glad that he didn't have to look at the man too.

When the stupid man had said enough Harper slammed his good hand down on the desk, before standing up. "Ok listen Ambassador, and listen up well, the Magog are murderous insatiable creatures, they infest you with their eggs, they're utterly disgusting," Harper ranted, then felt Trance's hand on his arm and he stopped, and she continued for him.

"They are dark and evil beings," Trance calmly spoke.

Dylan further supported both their words, but Harper could tell by the silence that followed that the Ambassador was not paying their warnings with any heed.

His thoughts returned him to his own dealings with the Magog, the blood, the horror and the death of his youth, and then his own infestation and he shifted from foot to foot, as he remembered the eggs that had almost killed him. He picked up that someone else was moving, leaving their seat, and figured it was whoever was sat at the head of the table, Ambassador Galdamez if he recalled correctly. Then he heard the small gruff sound that escaped the Ambassador's mouth, and he instinctively panicked in his darkness.

The next sound completely froze Harper to the core and he couldn't move as he realised what he was hearing, as he heard someone fall to the deck. "Magog eggs hatching," he simply whispered with fear, before hearing a flurry of weapon fire, wishing he could add his own.

There was a lot of activity around him now, as Harper tried to block out the images in his head, being unable to see what was really going on, but not really needing to, he'd seen it enough on Earth. He jumped on feeling a hand on his shoulder, and panicked momentarily.

"It's ok, Harper," Trance assured him. "They are all dead, but so is the Ambassador, it was too late to save him."

Harper took some calming breaths. "Why didn't he say? Why did he bring those things onboard, why didn't Rommie spot them?" Harper asked through gritted teeth, noticeably affected by what he had heard but couldn't see.

"He wanted to believe the Magog were not savage monsters," Trance sighed. "I'm not sure why Rommie missed them."

"Are you ok, Mr Harper?" Dylan now checked. "You look a little pale, you should sit down."

"They are all dead?" Harper checked, and his unseeing eyes darted around as if trying to see for himself.

"They are all dead," Dylan confirmed. "Rhade, take our guest to her quarters, Trance make sure our guest isn't carrying her own surprises," Dylan ordered, and then Harper felt a hand around his shoulders. "And Harper, let's talk," he stated and encouraged Harper to walk.

Harper felt tense as he put his trust into Dylan, as they walked the corridors of the Andromeda. For the most part, Harper knew the corridors well, but he had no idea where Dylan was leading him, if anywhere, as the captain cleared his throat.

"I just wanted to apologise," Dylan finally began.

"For what?" Harper asked with surprise.

"I've not giving you a fair go lately, I've been expecting you to be on top of your game and have not taken your situation into consideration," Dylan offered.

"I don't want special treatment," Harper complained.

"You also deserve more than silly mind games," Dylan stated. "I shouldn't have put you under additional pressure, and when I said you were on your last warning, I had no intention of getting rid of you, I just thought you needed the motivation."

Harper smirked. "Yeah," he sighed. "Like I need motivation to help destroy the Magog, to survive, not like I've had to do that before," he stated bitterly, and he noted the brief silence from Dylan.

"Do you think you can help with the Arkology?" Dylan then asked.

"If they all talk like that Ambassador I will happily help to knock some sense into them," Harper offered.

"Maybe just help them to get the engines working again," Dylan suggested diplomatically. "Leave the talking sense into them to me?" he smiled.

"I'll try, boss," Harper shrugged. "I'll need someone with me, to stop me walking into the walls," he shrugged. "I don't think I can fix my transmitter and the arkology won't support the technology to give me sight, I'll be blind over there."

"You can take Rommie, and you'll be fine, you don't give yourself enough credit, Mr Harper," Dylan stated with authority. "You're by Machine Shop three," Dylan then pointed out. "Rommie will come by when we're ready to go."

"Thanks," Harper felt for the door and walked inside, leaving Dylan to return to his own work, both beginning to feel the weight on what lay ahead.

TBC


	5. Part 5

Part 5

The Arkology was a genius like Harper's worse nightmare, the engineer decided, as he fumbled around the ancient controls. With no place to jack in and no working sensors to pick up a signal from, Harper had to rely on touch and sound to work, and he was regretting all those boasts he used to make about being able to fix anything even with his eyes closed, being proved wrong was not his favourite past time. Rommie stayed close to him as much as she could, but at times she had to leave his side to walk around the new environment, being his eyes whilst they tried to figure out the problem.

"How is the power distributed?" Harper asked almost hidden from view inside one of the ancient conduits, his one good hand feeling right into the mechanics of the power grid.

"From there it's fed into some standard coils, directly linked to the environmental system," Rommie informed him.

"This feels rusted," Harper complained.

"It seems that that particular power generator has not worked in some time," Rommie agreed, having moved closer and taking a detailed look at what Harper was working on.

"Take me to a working console," Harper requested, and Rommie helped him to his feet and walked him to a console that was live. "Voice activation," Harper ordered and heard a beep. "Reroute twenty percent power to the engines."

There were two beeps to indicate the order was not processed. "What's the problem?" Harper asked.

The computer beeped, and Harper felt Rommie by his side once more. "There's been a circuit failure, it's been unable to comply," she informed him.

"Does it show me where, Rom doll?" Harper asked, trying to remain optimistic.

"It does," Rommie answered and she led him to another section of the room. "And there's our problem."

"What?" Harper asked, and felt Rommie take his hand and pressed it against the rough surface. "Burn out, they had some sort of fire or explosion," he figured, feeling the melted and distorted surface against his hand. "Without those circuits we're not going to get any power to the engines, and we don't have time to completely refit this whole section, especially considering I can't see!" Harper stressed, his voice losing the required enthusiasm for the mission, the more he realised the bigger problem.

"We need to speak to Dylan," Rommie confirmed.

"I don't want to fail him, again," Harper's voice sounded disappointed.

"There is little we can do," Rommie answered assuredly. "Even if you were working with sight and with both hands, I doubt we could do much for this place."

"Stuff like this has never beaten me before," Harper stated with obvious anger and frustration.

"Harper, this ship has not moved in centuries, and we've discovered with good reason," Rommie considered. "I'm confident that with your abilities, if we had the time, there is no reason you couldn't get this heap of ancient metal moving, but time isn't on our side, time has defeated us, that is all," Rommie insisted. "This is not about you, or your abilities, this is about realistic goals and knowing what we can achieve in the time being afforded to us," she added.

With resignation, Harper frowned and when Rommie offered to lead him away, back to the Andromeda, he went silently and with little complaint.

* * *

"I say we leave," Beka stood up with determination. "They don't want our help and there's plenty in this sector that do."

"They need our help," Dylan stressed.

"I agree," Rhade spoke up.

Harper was lost in his own thoughts as discussions continued, he wanted to help but he knew his help was worth little as things stood, but even with sight or function, he'd face an impossible challenge on the Arkology. He used to live for those challenges, he considered with sadness. With nothing to add to the discussion, Harper simply let them continue, as he remained silent, losing himself to his own mind, and being reminded of his own situation that couldn't have come at a worse time.

He remembered back to how he had found himself in this position, the moment he lost his sight in a moment of weakness, being overpowered by pigheaded Nietzscheans, and wondered if being weak and useless was something he would just have to get use to.

"Harper?"

Hearing Beka speak his name Harper sat up abruptly, and listened attentively not knowing where to look or how to respond, but there was silence now and he didn't know why.

"Harper, I'm leaving, are you coming with me?" Beka's voice asked.

"Leaving?" Harper questioned with surprise, realising he had missed a major part of the discussion.

"This is a worthless and pointless fight, and one I am not sticking around for, so are you coming?" Beka asked again, almost ordering him.

"But," Harper hesitated. "The Arkology, I said I'd help, I want to help."

"Fine," Beka snapped and Harper heard her walk away.

"Where did she go?" Harper panicked suddenly, not knowing if Beka was leaving for good, right that minute, and he shifted in his seat wishing he could see, or had at least paid attention.

"It's ok, Harper, she won't be leaving immediately," Trance offered, sensing his concern.

"It's clear that some of us will be staying, some of us going," Dylan announced as he got to his feet. "Those of us staying, we have work to do."

Harper felt torn, and being sightless was not helping, as he felt lost for the moment. Trance's hand rested on his own and Harper briefly smiled, but knew his fear was clear to see.

"This is serious, right?" Harper spoke up in hushed concern. "Beka leaving, the World Ship not far away, this is it, right?" he realised. "What we've been preparing for all this time, today's the day," he added, and had to get a grip on his emotions.

"The situation is bleak," Trance agreed.

"I can't help thinking that I'm not helping, if I could see I'd have a better chance at fixing that thing," Harper stressed. "I know I can, I just need another go."

"Rommie supported you when you told us it is nearly impossible to fix in the time we have," Trance encouraged. "There is nothing you can do, even if you had sight."

"I don't believe that," Harper dismissed. "If I had sight I'd fix that thing, I know it, I'm missing something!" he added angrily, getting to his feet.

"Harper," Trance attempted to calm him down. "The Arkology has not moved under its own momentum for a very long time."

"And right now it needs to or the Magog will have it and all of those on it, for lunch, literally!" Harper stressed, and his muscles tensed. "Take me to the Arkology," Harper demanded.

"Harper, if it can not be fixed maybe you should consider Beka's offer," Trance began, but was soon cut off.

"Take me!" Harper snapped, and shakily got to his feet, and without word Trance assisted Harper towards the exit.

TBC


	6. Part 6

Part 6

How long had he been hiding, was he dreaming or hiding, was any of this real?

The Magog screams had filled his head, his imagination had consumed him, and the passage of time was no longer registering. He could feel the cold sweat that covered him, and now he remembered Rommie, all she had said was 'stay safe' and then he was stumbling back to the floor having been hit by an explosion that somehow he had almost seen coming, even without sight.

His heart raced, and in that moment uncertainty became his mantra. Hearing Magog, the shrills and sensing the tension, Harper instinctively jumped when he felt someone touching his arm.

"Seamus, are you back with me yet?"

"Beka?" Harper whispered in hurried breaths.

"Hey, you've stopped zoning," Beka's voice sounded cheerful.

"Where are we?" Harper asked.

"On the Maru," Beka answered, and he could hear her moving around where he was sat, which he guessed was on the deck, and leaning against the bulkhead.

"The Arkology?" Harper tensed, as he prepared to move again.

"It's gone, Harper," Beka's voice lost its joy. "It was destroyed."

"The Andromeda?" Harper ventured.

"Harper," Beka's voice conveyed sadness now, as Harper felt her kneeling beside him now. "It's all gone, Arkology, The Andromeda, even that damn World Ship."

"Gone?" Harper's voice was caught in his throat now. "But we survived?" Harper checked unsure of what he was hearing.

"When you didn't respond to my hails, but my instruments said you were still active," Beka paused, troubled by her own memories. "I came back for you, Seamus, and luckily you had stumbled towards the airlock, I was able to reach you only meeting a handful of Magog."

"I don't remember," Harper offered shakily.

"You seemed in shock and I'm not surprised, I think I'm suffering a bit with that myself at the moment, Harper," Beka admitted, her voice shaky, and she sat on the deck next to him. "It's all gone, Seamus, and I could only watch on helpless, as it all blew up and one by one everything was destroyed," she paused to take a needed breath. "I barely managed to get the Maru a safe enough distance away before the destruction started and at one point it was like the destruction was reaching out to draw us back in, it was scary stuff, and I don't think all that I saw was natural, other powers were at work," she recounted, and Harper was struggling to remember ever hearing Beka sounding so afraid.

Not knowing what else to do, Harper put his good hand out to where he figured Beka was, and she took it. They remained silent for a moment, taking comfort from each other as the realisation hit them both.

"So it's just us now," Harper asked quietly to break the silence.

"Trance was on the Andromeda when it exploded," Beka remembered, and felt Harper shudder. "Rhade and Rommie were left behind on the Arkology, I couldn't find them," she stressed.

"Rommie was killed," Harper remembered, his voice conveying his own distress and shock now.

"Killed?" Beka checked.

"The Magog did something, I don't know what exactly, but she was saving my sorry ass, I just know that she exploded right in front of me, and she knew she was going to," Harper's eyes were close to tears and he couldn't finish the sentence, as Beka put an arm around him now.

"I'm sorry, Seamus," Beka offered.

"What about Dylan?" Harper then asked, composing himself a little.

"He was in a slip fighter at the end, I don't know why, but the Maru took some pretty bad hits around that time so I couldn't help him, I had to get us away from there, but I think he was trying to get to the Route of Ages, I just doubt he made it, there was so much battle fire in that part," Beka sighed. "Even if he did make it, we both know it's no better through that thing, without Rommie or Trance he'll never make his way back, if he is alive," she frowned.

"What are we going to do?" Harper now asked with fear.

"We barely have enough rations for the moment, but we have credit, so I say we lay low and just sort ourselves out before we do anything else," Beka suggested, finding some strength in her voice. "Didn't you want to go someplace, before this whole Arkology madness?"

Harper tried to remember, all his notes and research had been destroyed with the Andromeda and that thought froze him momentarily, to think all of that had gone now. With a gentle nudge, Beka encouraged him to remember.

"There's a research centre close to Sinti, in the same system at least, that specialises in eye injuries like mine," Harper offered quietly, it seemed ridiculous now to be even considering this, with all that had happened, but Beka was encouraging him now. His good hand absently moved to his port as he inwardly accessed what little information he still carried from his research.

"Then we'll go," Beka enthused, then caught hold of one of Harper's arms. "And these bandages on your wrists need changing, so let's set the course and then get you cleaned up."

"Beka, if my eyes can't be fixed, and with the Andromeda gone, what hope do I have," Harper began.

"Harper, don't go there just yet, ok?" Beka requested calmly. "We're both in some form of shock and making things seem worse is not a good plan, we have to stay positive," she started firmly, as she knelt down before him. "I know things seem bleak right now, but I need you to stay strong, I need you Harper, help me get through this, ok?"

Harper began to nod his head in understanding, but his sightless eyes looked somewhere beyond Beka, and it almost broke her heart to see her friend reduced to this, as she left him where he sat to prep the Maru for its next journey.

* * *

"He's still alive!"

"I was told the Andromeda and all her crew were destroyed in that battle with the World Ship," the man in the shadows spoke with confusion, looking at Gerentex.

"The Maru survived, and with it Rebecca Valentine and young Seamus Harper," Gerentex informed him. "So can I resume my bounty?"

"By all means," the man smiled. "I want Seamus Harper dead by the end of the week; he can not still be breathing whilst my family suffers because of him."

"They are currently on one of the Sinti planets, it appears they are trying to recover his sight," Gerentex offered and stepped back as the man got to his feet.

"No!" the man seethed, still in the shadows. "That was his punishment and he must not be allowed to see again, is that understood?"

"Perfectly," Gerentex bowed his head, before leaving the room.

A female came out of the light, as the door closed behind Gerentex. "Dear brother, you need to learn to control that anger," she smiled. "That kludge is not worth a heart condition."

"Our brother is facing death because of that Kludge, and we've been banished because we failed with our revenge against the girl, Dani," the man stressed. "I need that kludges head on a stake before we lose every shred of pride we once possessed."

"Killing a kludge will be only small payback, Rico," the female spoke.

"Maybe so, Darla," Rico glanced up at his sister. "But it sure will be satisfying."

"The kludges were together," Darla now spoke. "They were lovers, and Yussuf knew all about them, we should use that to our advantage."

"Dani doesn't remember anything, they got her head fixed so she would forget," Rico dismissed.

"But the other kludge remembers, you may have taken away his sight but you didn't take his heart," Darla grinned now. "And Yussuf will remember the kludge, the kludge that saved his life, the kludge he owes his life to."

"Killing the kludge is doing Yussuf's work for him," Rico then realised and stood up, his mind a flurry. "I want Gerentex brought back here, the plan has changed!" he ordered loudly, as his sister smiled happily at the development.

TBC


	7. Part 7

Part 7

He was trying to believe it, but was having trouble. Harper's good hand absently played with the edge of his cot, knowing that he hadn't seen it, and he couldn't believe it. The Andromeda was still in one piece, he never saw it explode; he never saw anything, he welcomed denial to his mind.

Harper suddenly had the sensation of Magog being close by, he remembered that he had heard them and he recalled with fear the tension and the extreme feeling of helplessness he had felt, as he had staggered around in the hope of something other than death. He had realised in those moments that he didn't want to die, especially not like that. He never remembered Beka rescuing him, but he was on the Maru now, at least that's what he had been told but now doubt crept in.

With uncertainty now, Harper swung his legs over the edge of the cot and got to his feet finding his balance before moving forward. He felt for the bulkhead, touched the cold metallic surface and he frantically tried to piece the ships interior in his head, to what he was feeling. It became compulsive as his thoughts conflicted and attempted to confuse him, he needed to see it to believe it, but that was impossible, he didn't have a wire on him to jack in and all he had was his touch.

Frantically he stumbled around, desperately wanting to convince himself that this was the Maru, but with each touch he just found confusion and uncertainty, and he was unable to convince himself. This had to be the Maru, it sounded like the Maru, and Beka has said it was, so why would she lie? But still he found no comfort, no assurances, and he quickened his pace, touching the bulkheads, decks and surfaces to find something, anything to convince him totally of his location.

"Harper," Beka spoke up and Harper felt two firm hands on his shoulder's spinning him around. "What's wrong, what are you doing?" she asked with panicked tones, and Harper realised how frantic he had become, noticing his uneven breathing and perspiring skin.

"This is the Maru right?" Harper checked hurriedly, his breathing still rapid.

"It's the Maru, trust me," Beka assured him with authority, knowing the past couple of days had been one long paranoia trip for Harper, he was in denial, shock and seemingly struggling more with his disabilities.

This hadn't been the first time he had woken up in this state since the Arkology, but it had been the first time he had questioned where he was. It was concerning her that he was not jacking in to see, that he was remaining within his own mind, hardly speaking, and working himself up into the state she now saw him in.

"I wouldn't lie to you, Seamus, my God, please stop scaring me like this, I need you, Harper," Beka added softly and brought him into a fond embrace and they were silent in each others hold, as she felt the human calming down.

"We have to go back to the medical centre, your test results should be back and we'll see if they can do anything for you," Beka suggested, knowing Harper needed distractions, just as she did at this time. "If they see you like this, Seamus, it might have an effect on whether they treat you or not, so please, try and keep it together, for me?" Beka requested with concern, as she encouraged Harper out of the embrace.

"I want to see again," Harper simply said to acknowledge her fears. "I also want things to go back to how they were, the Andromeda, everyone," he then admitted sadly, barely holding onto his emotions now.

"Let's see if we can sort your eyes out first," Beka comforted him with her touch. "Then we'll see what we can do about the rest," she sighed, knowing it wouldn't even be a possibility to see Andromeda again, as she remembered the explosions, the destruction and she shook her head to remain focused.

After a moment she encouraged Harper to follow her, and they both walked through the Maru and out onto the space port of the planet. The noise, smells and unknown hit Harper, and caused him to initially freeze, until Beka took his hand and squeezed it.

"It's ok, Harper, just follow me," Beka stated, and led him forward. "Do you think you'll be able to make another transmitter for your port, and fix those glasses, say if the test results aren't good?" Beka asked cautiously.

"I don't have the tools or the stuff I need on the Maru," Harper responded without emotion. "It was all on the Andromeda," he then added with past tense.

"We can get you what you need," Beka offered, but she could feel the lack of enthusiasm from Harper.

"The Maru isn't the Andromeda," Harper simply said in return.

"I just don't want you to see this as the last chance, Seamus," Beka returned with passion.

"That's just it, I can't see, Beka, and just as I have to learn to accept that we'll never see the Andromeda, Trance, Dylan, Rommie, hell even Rhade, I have to accept that I might be like this for ever!" Harper stressed, and it was only because Beka took a firm hold of his arms that he didn't rush off, something he was grateful for her doing in hindsight knowing he had no idea about the layout of the town they were in.

"Harper, it's good to accept things but don't give up," Beka responded calmly. "It's true that you've lost so much lately, but you're all I have now and I just want to help you," she added.

Harper noticeably calmed down. "I haven't lost you, or the Maru, so that's something right?" Harper considered with a frown, and then a brief smile.

"We have each other, and for the next couple of months at least I'm betting that's going to be all we do have whilst we find our feet," Beka sighed, and put her arm around Harper's shoulders as they resumed walking.

"You don't think they can help me, with my sight, do you?" Harper then spoke, knowing Beka had brought up his transmitter device for a reason.

"It's not that I don't want them to, Harper, far from it," Beka sighed, as they walked. "It's just I've seen your injuries so many times, it's hard for me to believe they can help," Beka admitted with a heavy heart.

Harper simply smirked in response. "I know what you mean," he offered. "When they kept telling me that I would survive the Magog infestation, I just couldn't see how. All my life I'd watched people die and in the most horrible, gruesome, bloody."

"Harper," Beka interrupted him.

"Way," Harper concluded quickly, with a lopsided grin.

"I saw the playback of the Ambassadors death," Beka then recounted, and her voice gave away the disturbance it caused her.

Harper picked up on her tone. "You've never seen anyone die like that, have you?" he asked sincerely.

"Not really, seen the aftermath many times but to see it actually happen," Beka remembered with a shudder, and her arm around Harper seemed to bring him closer. "I just can't believe now that you were so close to that," she admitted.

"It's what I had to live with each day for nearly six months," Harper remembered. "Each time I felt them move, or felt as though I was going to be sick, every pain in my gut, I wondered if it was my time," he shrugged now, trying to dismiss the negative thoughts but still remembering just the same.

"How can I ask you to be strong, when you're already probably the strongest person I know?" Beka then asked, with an ironic laugh.

"Get out of here," Harper mocked her. "I'm a piece of chicken shit, we all know it," he further mocked himself.

"No way!" Beka stressed, as they approached the medical centre. "Now, quit with the put downs and lets see what they have to say."

"Move!" Harper suddenly said, and without explanation he pushed Beka to one side and they fell to the ground, as a fraction of a second later a weapon discharge hit the wall close to where they had been standing.

"What the," Beka began but then with more weapon fire, she gathered Harper's shirt and pulled him towards the safety of a nearby building, and they huddled in the doorway, keeping out of sight.

"Either we have bad timing," Harper offered. "Or there's still a bounty on my head," he shrugged catching his breath.

"Crap, I'd forgotten about that," Beka armed her weapon and cautiously looked around. "I'm not seeing any rat face," she offered. "How did you know to move?"

"Just heard something," Harper offered distantly, before continuing. "Can we still make it to the centre?" Harper asked, unable to see for himself.

"Let's find the back way in," Beka suggested and gestured for Harper to move, never letting go of his shirt just in case they needed to hide again.

TBC


	8. Part 8

Part 8

Nearly an hour had passed since the mayhem of gunfire had broken out in the street below, Beka now stood by the window observing the activity outside with caution, as Harper sat on the cot awaiting the doctor. It was as if nothing had happened outside, as people moved around going about their business, but there was a tense silence in the room, as they waited.

"See anything?" Harper asked to break the silence.

"Nothing to suggest anything unusual," Beka offered. "Whoever fired those shots is probably waiting for us back at the Maru," she frowned.

The door to the office opened, and a man in white lab coat entered and smiled at Beka before taking his seat. "My name is Dr Richter, and you are Seamus Harper, correct?"

"Yeah," Harper answered.

"I would just like to look at your eyes, if that is ok," Richter requested and Harper nodded his head, as the doctor moved forward and place a hand on the back of Harper's head, before placing a scanner in front of Harper's eyes.

Activating the device, the doctor looked into the core of Harper's eyes and took in the damage that had occurred, before moving away and sitting down.

"Your results were positive, and from what I can see here I am encouraged that we will be able to help you regain some of your sight, if not all of it," Richter announced.

"You can?" Harper spoke with shock and disbelief.

"Seriously?" Beka checked, turning her attention to the doctor.

The doctor smiled. "The results show that your retina and optic disks are only mildly damaged in both eyes, but the lens and cornea were badly affected which has resulted in your blindness, but I'm confident that we can fix this for you," the doctor revealed. "We have a technique that can replicate the cornea and lens, and the mild damage to your retina and optic disk can be reversed with a short course of treatment," he continued. "We would need you to be admitted for five days to carry out the procedure."

"Five days?" Harper checked, and then looked out to where he thought Beka was standing.

"If we have to stay, we stay, Harper," Beka assured him. "If they can recover your sight then I'm not leaving."

"Is there a problem?" Richter asked unsure.

"No problem," Beka confirmed. "How much will this all cost?" Beka now asked, as she moved to sit beside Harper.

"It will cost ten thousand per eye," Richter answered.

"What?" Harper almost spat out the words. "We don't have that kind of money!"

"It's ok, Harper," Beka put a hand on his arm. "We don't, but Uncle Sid does," Beka smiled, pulling out the unlimited credit chip that he had given her.

"That's still useable?" Harper asked.

"In emergencies," Beka shrugged, and handed the chip over to the doctor.

"I will just process this, along with the paperwork you filled in during your first visit, and then we'll see about admitting Mr Harper to begin treatment," Dr Richter stated, and left the room.

"Beka, I will repay you," Harper began.

"No, there's no need, it's not my money anyway," Beka dismissed and then sighed. "We're going to have to be alert, just in case whoever was shooting at us returns," Beka then stated.

"Don't leave me, that's all I ask, Beka," Harper then requested, fear in his voice. "I don't like not knowing the layout of this place, I can't wait to be back on the Maru," he added, almost to himself.

"Not planning on going anywhere, Seamus," Beka looked around the room. "Remember we only have each other now, got to look after each other, right?"

"Right, and if I get my sight back, it'll make my part in that easier," Harper grinned.

"Why wasn't Trance able to do what these guys can do?" Beka then asked.

"I think they make it sound a lot easier than it is, I mean five days admittance?" Harper said with some shock. "And they are the leading lights in this stuff," Harper shrugged. "Its how I found out about this place, after Trance did what she could," he finished but Beka noted his sadness at the mention of the Golden alien's name.

"I miss her too," Beka then said, guessing the reason behind Harper's sadness.

"I never thought Trance could die, hell, I never even thought Dylan would, or Rommie," He frowned, and fought back his emotions, as he remembered once more the events of the previous days. "I keep thinking we should be doing something, anything, it doesn't feel right to just accept it, when have we ever just accepted this sort of thing?" Harper asked now with urgency.

"I saw it all with my own eyes, Harper," Beka said with a low tone, and one that suggested she had been haunted by it ever since. "I saw the Andromeda blow into a million pieces, along with the World Ship and the Arkology," she added.

"Sorry, I shouldn't doubt you," Harper said softly.

"I'd feel the same in your position; you need to see it to believe it right?" Beka partially smiled.

"How did we survive?" Harper then asked. "It doesn't seem fair, and I thought Trance had some say or control of destiny, how did she let this happen?"

"You can't blame Trance," Beka spoke sincerely. "Who knows, maybe Trance's destiny was to destroy the world ship, maybe it was destiny that we'd survive?"

Harper rested his head in his hands. "What's taking the doc so long?"

"I don't know," Beka stood up and moved to the door. "My credit is good," she added, before opening the door slightly to look out. "He's talking to someone, seems pretty heated," Beka then closed the door quickly. "They were looking at this room."

"Bad feeling incoming?" Harper guessed and got to his feet.

"This isn't fair, they can help you," Beka stressed, put prepared her weapon just in case. "I'm not going to let whoever the slime balls are behind the bounty on your head ruin your chance to see again."

Harper looked uneasy as he leant against the cot. "I got a feeling the slime balls behind this have already had a major say in my sight, and they won't stop, ever."

"Yussuf and his gang?" Beka guessed Harper's assumption.

Harper shrugged. "You did try to warn me not to mess with Yussuf, I didn't listen," he simply said, and sat back down despondently.

Beka shook her head. "Harper, we can't think like that, what's done is done and what we have to think about now is making sure they don't win."

"They've already won," Harper snapped with anger.

"Your sight is salvageable, Harper, the doc just confirmed that!" Beka snapped back. "And I know you'll regain the use of your hand too," Beka insisted. "You're no longer their slave, you have won, Harper, if we just stay ahead of them," Beka stated strongly.

Harper's eyes looked off into the distance. "I already lost, Beka," Harper simply said.

"How can you say that?" Beka demanded.

"You wouldn't understand," Harper stressed, and the door opened before Beka could demand a further explanation, as Dr Richter walked in.

"I'm really sorry," Richter spoke up, as he handed the chip back to Beka.

"This is good, I have credit!" Beka stressed, snatching the chip back.

"We don't doubt that," Richter was quick to explain. "But it seems that we can not treat Mr Harper."

"Why the hell not?" Beka demanded.

"We have a policy," Richter began, and looked uneasily at Beka. "We do not treat slaves."

"Harper is not a slave!" Beka snapped.

"It's been brought to my attention that he obtained his eye injury whilst working as a slave, we can not risk this establishment's reputation by reversing a punishment of a slave," Richter stressed. "It's company policy."

"Let me say this more slowly," Beka calmly returned. "Harper is not a slave, and I am not leaving until you begin treatment."

"Then I request that Mr Harper remove his shirt, and prove that he is not a slave, or never has been," Richter spoke evenly.

"Forget it, let's go, Beka," Harper got to his feet, and he would have left if he could see to find the exit, but instead he stood uneasily.

"No way, Harper, we stay," Beka stressed, and put a hand on his arm.

"Isn't this humiliating enough, already?" Harper seethed.

"Seamus, we have the money and you need your sight back, there is no good reason why you shouldn't get the treatment," Beka stated firmly, and turned her attention back to the doctor. "He was a slave for less than a week, Doctor, have some freaking compassion and do the job I'm willing to pay you for!"

"I would, honestly I would happily over look this in the name of medical science," Richter lowered his voice. "If there weren't five men outside this room with guns telling me they'll raise this building to the ground if I so much as administer eye drops on Mr Harper."

TBC


	9. Part 9

Part 9

_"I would, honestly I would happily over look this in the name of medical science," Richter lowered his voice. "If there weren't five men outside this room with guns telling me they'll raise this building to the ground if I so much as administer eye drops on Mr Harper."_

* * *

Beka paused as she considered the doctors words. "They are in the building?"

"Five of them," Richter offered.

"Does one of them resemble a rat?" Harper asked, sounding tired and down.

"He means a Nightsider, is one of them a Nightsider?" Beka corrected.

"The main one," Richter nodded his head.

Harper frowned. "Great the circus is in town," he remarked.

"Let me guess, the minute we leave this room they'll surround us and take us someplace we don't want to go," Beka crossed her arms.

"They are just outside the room," Richter agreed, then lowered his voice again. "I can help Mr Harper, if you can lose the unwelcome guests."

"If we lose them, you cut your price," Beka bargained.

"You take Yussuf's attention away from this place and I'll consider it," Richter stated.

"Look, the only way that will happen is taking me away from this place," Harper spoke up.

"Fine," Richter agreed. "Give me five minutes to get my stuff together; I trust you have a ship."

"Wait, you want to come with us?" Beka checked unsure. "Why would you want to do that?"

"I hate Yussuf, I hate his attentions on this establishment more," Richter stressed, and then looked at Harper. "By helping your friend I will defy Yussuf, by doing that away from this establishment, I protect it from attentions that will no doubt hinder our work here, whilst at the same time furthering our work by seeing if we can operate in the field so to speak."

"You want to use me as a guinea pig," Harper figured.

"So far all our work has taken place in this building, which is of no use to anyone that is not in this vicinity, in need of urgent care," Richter explained hurriedly, as he began to pack a case.

"How are we supposed to smuggle you, as well as ourselves out of this building?" Beka demanded.

"How's Mr Harper's head for heights?" Richter asked, moving now to the window with a packed case.

"What?" Harper panicked. "Can't see, remember?" he stressed.

Beka moved to the doctor's side to glance out of the window. "We're only three floors up, Seamus," Beka informed him. "The ledge is fairly wide, and there's a ladder running up the side of the building."

"No!" Harper argued.

"Gerentex is right outside, Harper, ready to finish the job he started on you," Beka now spoke with urgency, grabbing Harper's still healing wrists to further her point. "Do you really want to end up in Yussuf's clutches again?"

"So it's either slavery or risk falling from three storeys to my death?" Harper reasoned. "I'll risk the falling," Harper decided quickly, and with Beka's guidance he moved to the now open window.

"If we stay either side of him, he should be ok," Richter figured, as they climbed out onto the ledge, giving extra assistance to Harper.

"Keep close to the wall, Harper," Beka now encouraged, and then heard the door being kicked in from inside. "Move!" Beka ordered, and both Harper and Richter quickened their pace, as Beka retrieved her weapon and they shuffled along the ledge outside the building.

"Rebecca Valentine," Gerentex called out, leaning outside the window from the office they had just vacated.

"I'll kill the good doctor if you try to follow," Beka warned.

"And why would that bother me, it's the boy I want," Gerentex returned, as he climbed onto the ledge. "Or are you trying to get my share of the bounty?"

"You are not going to touch Harper, or claim any bounty on him," Beka warned.

"Too late, I already have half, now I just seek the rest," Gerentex smiled.

In that moment Harper stumbled with his footing and slipped downwards, it was only a combined effort of both Richter and Beka that stopped him from falling from the ledge, as he panicked now in their hold, frozen by his own error in judgement.

Beka looked over to Gerentex and saw the look of panic on the rat's face, confused for the moment she then figured it out. "You need Harper alive, not dead, right?" Beka called out, as she assisted the doctor in bringing Harper back to an upright position on the ledge.

"No, he said I had a bounty on me for my death," Harper spoke breathlessly, clinging to the wall now, remembering Gerentex's words.

"Things have changed," Gerentex confirmed, now on the ledge with them. "Why do people always ruin my fun, my plans, but now the boy is wanted alive."

"Why?" Beka demanded.

"I do not question why, I am simply the messenger," the Nightsider shrugged. "Now hand Mr Harper over, so I can fulfil my obligation."

"No way," Beka returned angrily. "I am taking this doctor, and Harper and we're going to get everything fixed and then you can tell your boss that we won't stop until it's his head on a plate, understand?"

"You were always a feisty one, Miss Valentine," Gerentex sounded almost impressed. "But you see in the time it's taken for me to have this little chat with you on this perilous ledge, my men are down there waiting for you."

Beka looked down and saw four men waiting for them, and then looked towards Harper still looking panicked.

"What now, boss?" Harper asked when he heard nothing from Beka to Gerentex's words.

"Well, it seems Gerentex has no back up now, all his men are down there," Beka slowly smiled and armed her weapon. "Three against one," she added, pointing her gun at Gerentex.

"The doctor and some crippled kludge do not scare me," Gerentex said, but still cautiously stepped back.

Beka fired off a shot and caused Gerentex to almost loose his footing from the ledge as he stumbled back in fear, only just recovering in time but now on his back and in no position to fight Beka, as she aimed her weapon at him.

"But I should scare you, and right now, I'm not in the best of moods," Beka stressed, turning back to the doctor. "You, bring him and follow me," she barked, allowing Gerentex to see her forcing the doctor to do something, as he took hold of Harper and hurriedly escorted him behind Beka.

Once back inside the office and having locked the window trapping Gerentex outside, Beka turned to the doctor. "Another exit?" she demanded.

"Follow me," Richter stated, and allowed Beka to take over guiding Harper.

They hurried through a number of corridors, until finally they found themselves outside on a walkway that connected to the next building. Beka didn't have to say a word, as the doctor gained them access to the adjourning building. Before they knew it they were standing on the street, looking back at Gerentex's men, who were none the wiser.

"One day Gerentex will hire muscle who actually give a damn about his missions," Beka partly smiled, seeing the hired hands idly in conversation unawares that their boss was trapped on the ledge above, not hearing or maybe ignoring his cries.

"How did Tyr ever get mixed up with that rat?" Harper questioned.

"Probably from the moment Gerentex mentioned something called the Andromeda Ascendant, bound to get any Nietzschean's attention," Beka offered. "Now follow me," Beka ordered, and the doctor took hold of Harper.

"Doc, you best give me back my sight because I'm growing tired of being the parcel in this 'pass the' game," Harper fumed, but knew he had little choice as they began to move briskly once again.

Reaching the Maru without incident, Beka wasted no time in powering it up and they all seemed to hold their breath until the moment the ship left the space port, and headed towards the first slip point.

* * *

It was some time after they exited the final slip point that Beka appeared, and she saw the doctor had been busy in the crew quarters, sorting out his few pieces of medical equipment so it now resembled a makeshift medical theatre.

"Where's Harper?" Beka asked, not seeing him in the same room.

"He went to engineering, he could hear something and wanted to check it out," Richter answered. "He's coping quite well with his blindness, I have to say, has some independence in the places he knows."

"It's hard to keep Harper down," Beka offered, with a little pride in her voice. "You can help him right, away from your centre?"

"I want to try," Richter offered. "You even convinced me that I was being taken against my will, so hopefully the centre won't get any heat from Yussuf for looking at your friend."

"I want to thank you for caring, I mean I would have understood if you just handed us over," Beka offered with a smile.

"In my spare time I am part of an organisation trying to bring down Yussuf's regime, a few months ago we were very close to overthrowing him but something went wrong, Yussuf's life was saved, but we'll keep trying and I will continue doing all I can to just spite the man, and all he stands for," Richter declared.

"Yussuf's life was saved," Beka repeated and suddenly looked a little unsure, she knew it was Harper that had foiled that plan, and wondered if that little point would make a difference to the doctor's willingness to help.

"We heard some slave saved him, but apparently things were poorly managed, and it wasn't the best of plans, but we keep working at it," Richter enthused, distracted as he arranged some medicines.

"I need to speak to Harper, would you excuse me?" Beka offered politely and quickly headed to engineering, knowing she had to share what she had just discovered.

TBC


	10. Part 10

Part 10

On arriving in the engine room Beka saw Harper hunched over a conduit opening, his hands deep inside fixing something that he had found faulty on the Maru. He stopped on hearing the footsteps and waited for her to speak.

"It's me, Harper," Beka announced and saw him relax, as she moved closer. "First thing, how can you be working?" she asked with amazement, seeing Harper blindly fixing something, before remembering her reason for being there. "And second, whatever you do, please don't mention your little heroics about saving Yussuf's life to the doctor, ok?"

"What, why?" Harper asked with surprise, confused.

"He's part of the group that organised the attempt on Yussuf's life, he might not take too kindly to us if he finds out, that's all," Beka said softly.

"What if he asks how I was blinded?" Harper asked. "It was in part revenge for my actions."

"Harper, you may be blind, but that's all you've lost, I know you can still lie, bluff, use your imagination," Beka mocked him, and then she noticed something. "Hey, your hands," she motioned and grabbed Harper's left hand, pulling it from the conduit. "You're using it!" she exclaimed with some joy.

"It still feels weak," Harper offered unsure. "I'm going to keep the support cast on it for the time being, but I started to feel sharp tingly sensations after waking up this morning, and it's just started to respond, it's not perfect but I can grab with it now," he partially smiled.

Beka couldn't help herself as she embraced Harper quickly. "This is just the beginning," she enthused. "This is a sign, Seamus, things will get back to normal."

"No they won't," Harper sighed, downhearted. "I might regain the use of my hand, even regain my sight but that's all," he shrugged, clearly thinking of the things they had lost, and Beka guessed that he was referring to the Andromeda again, something that still played on her mind and consumed her thoughts no matter how hard she tried to push them back.

"Harper, stay positive, that's an order," Beka scolded him lightly, thinking likewise.

"Right, boss," Harper smirked, as he flexed his left hand to test the mobility, he couldn't quite close the fist yet, but he was able to grip larger objects now with limited success. "They won't give up, will they?"

"Who?" Beka asked, before thinking.

"Those guys, Gerentex, the next bounty hunter with the need of some easy money," Harper sighed, as he brushed his hand through his hair. "If Yussuf wants me dead, I'm as good as," he finished with a heavy sigh.

"No, Harper, stop thinking like that, remember my order?" Beka stated firmly, but Harper showed no sign of lightening his mood. "Things will get better, you'll get your sight back, your hand will recover, we still can do what we can for the Commonwealth, keep Dylan and all the Andromeda crews work alive," she enthused brightly.

To Beka's surprise Harper suddenly hid his face from her, bringing his hands up to hide what she quickly realised were tears. On instinct Beka reached out and embraced her friend and without restraint he almost fell into her hold, as his emotions were released and the sobs followed. For a couple of minutes, Beka held Harper as he simply cried without a care in her arms, and she was at a loss as to why he had had such an extreme reaction, and so suddenly. Wanting to ease her friend's pain, Beka began to talk, hoping to offer some comfort.

"I miss them too, and I find it hard to believe they are gone but they are, and we have to keep going, for their sake, Seamus," Beka spoke with care, feeling her own emotions rising in reaction to his.

Harper didn't respond for a long while, but when he had finally calmed down enough to speak his words were brief. "I miss her, like nothing else," he quietly spoke, still holding Beka as she protectively held her arms around him.

"Trance?" Beka guessed.

"No," Harper answered. "I mean I do, but," Harper stumbled in his speech as Beka continued.

"Rommie then?" Beka figured but again Harper shook his head, this time pulling back as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and then used the hem of his shirt to finish the job. "Then who?"

"Dani," Harper revealed, with his face close to creasing up again, as his eyes threatened to water.

Beka was glad for a moment that Harper couldn't see her reaction, her shocked expression, considering that she had nearly forgotten the woman that had come so close to taking Harper from her. Knowing she had to speak, Beka managed to compose her thoughts.

"Even after what she did?" Beka ventured.

"Saved my life?" Harper returned quickly.

"Turned you into a slave, her slave," Beka reminded him.

"To save my life," Harper persisted. "And yes, it was only because of her that I returned, Beka, I didn't want to, I wanted to stay with her but she said I had to go, that I had to return to my girls," he spoke barely gesturing to Beka to show that she was one of the girls he spoke of, as a stray tear fell down the side of his face.

Beka stared at Harper, seeing his distress the overwhelming sadness he was displaying now, as his unseeing eyes darting around the engine room unfocused and manic. "You really wanted to stay, and be a slave?" Beka checked, her voice reflecting her disbelief.

"I didn't want to return and be a burden, I didn't want to leave Dani behind," Harper shot back, his eyes finally still and a cold expression upon his face.

Beka reached out and brushed the side of Harper's face, an action she had used a lot recently, an action that seemed to calm him down since losing his sight. "We're going to get your sight back, and full mobility, and then we'll try and pick up the pieces of the past few weeks, ok?" Beka said calmly.

Harper took a couple of calming breaths, before slowly nodding his head. "Ok," he simply said.

"All this time," Beka then spoke with continued disbelief. "Ever since you returned, you've missed her haven't you, you just haven't been able to say it?" Beka then figured after a moment of silence.

"It's been too painful," Harper admitted sadly, close to losing it again. "I tried to forget, tried to even hate her but each time I end up remembering the fun we had, how comfortable I felt with her, she was the one, Beka, I'm in no doubt," Harper insisted with obvious fondness, that Beka couldn't ignore. "I see her all the time, in here," Harper gestured to his temple. "I can't escape from her, and I don't want to, she's with me all the time but then if I get my sight back," Harper began to stress, and Beka held his hand for comfort.

"She'll still be there, Seamus," Beka assured him.

"I'm being silly, I know, I know," Harper said with some force, almost anger, finding strength and finally controlling his emotions. "But I'm getting so use to living in my mind, having Dani in my thoughts like this, it's like I forget what it was like before, it's like I'm not really here anymore," he offered with a distant and confused voice.

"You're still very much here, Harper," Beka smiled now.

"Inside my mind everything has remained the same, I still see Rommie, Trance, I see everything we've lost," he gestured. "It's still very much alive to me, I still see it, I still see, almost feel Dani," Harper offered quietly.

Beka sighed; she didn't want Harper to know that his words were slowly killing her inside. "But it's not real, it's just memories, and you'll have to start facing reality soon," she offered softly. "I've wondered at times in your silence what you're thinking, you always have this peaceful look on your face when your keeping yourself to yourself, now it makes sense, but Seamus you have to let go at some point and return to us completely, and I know it will hurt but," Beka was cut off as Harper finished her words for her, guessing correctly.

"You need me now, in reality, we need each other, it's all we really have," Harper frowned, then offered a crooked smile, as Beka returned it with a smile of her own wishing he could see it, hoping he would soon.

They both reacted on hearing footsteps, and Beka smiled as the doctor appeared, checking that he wasn't interrupting.

"I'm ready to begin, I have set up the area for Mr Harper," Richter spoke softly. "For the first session it might be prudent for you to sit with him, it can be a little uncomfortable for the patient," he then added.

"How uncomfortable?" Harper asked immediately.

"The actual process only takes a couple of minutes, and you'll be unconscious for those minutes, but you need to awake again within twenty minutes of the procedure so I can determine it's initial success, and this has proved a little uncomfortable for some patients," the doctor advised.

"I'll be right by his side throughout," Beka confirmed, reassuring Harper with a comforting touch on his arm.

"Don't leave me," Harper quickly whispered, suddenly fearing what lay ahead.

"Haven't we discussed this already?" Beka questioned.

"I'm not sure I'm ready to see again," Harper then panicked.

"Yes, you are," Beka stated firmly. "You're just nervous about the treatment and that's ok," she assured him, as she led him through the Maru to where the doctor had set up his treatment room.

TBC


	11. Part 11

Part 11

Harper was hesitant as Doctor Richter tried to encourage him to lie back on the cot, and Beka quickly held Harper's hand, seeing the doctor was ready to begin treatment.

"It's ok, Harper, it's just a cot," Beka confirmed, and Harper finally lay back, but his breathing was noticeably tense.

"Keep talking, Beka, I need to know," Harper then spoke hurriedly.

Beka frowned and then partially grinned at Richter, as if in apology for Harper's distrust in his request. "The doc has a device in his hands that he needs to secure over your head," Beka offered.

"It is vital that you remain perfectly still," Richter explained. "This is solely to restrict movement in your upper body and head," he added.

Harper tensed and Beka tried to reassuring him, but she could tell he was growing increasingly unsure of the procedure to return his sight. "Seamus, the doc wants to help you, and he can only do that if you co-operate," she spoke with care.

"It's not easy to trust when I can't look the guy in the eyes," Harper spoke with gritted teeth as he felt the contraption hovering over him, unable to see it.

"Then trust me, you can trust him, he's risked a lot remember by being here at all," Beka reminded Harper. "I'm helping the doc secure you, and you trust me, right?" Beka offered.

"Yeah," Harper still sounded unsure, but he relaxed slightly as he felt Beka fixing the device to the cot, that secured him. Unable to move now Harper focused his senses on remaining calm, knowing deep down that he could trust the doctor but his natural fear of medical procedures wasn't helping matters.

Beka sat back, feeling for her friend as he now lay helpless on the cot, tough adjustable straps ensuring that he couldn't move a muscle now from the waist up. Knowing he couldn't see either, Beka hoped the procedure would be over as quickly as Richter had predicted, and that Harper wouldn't be too uncomfortable when he woke up.

Richter prepared an injector that contained enough sedative to give him fifteen minutes to work in, and then nodded towards Beka.

"Seamus, the doc is about to administer the sedative, you'll be out for only a short while but I'll be right here," Beka confirmed, and Harper only acknowledged her with a tense grunt. Without knowing why, Beka instinctively leaned forward and lightly kissed Harper on the cheek, an action that had the desired effect as Harper relaxed his body.

The doctor applied the sedative and in seconds Harper's body further relaxed and they checked the restraints were firmly in place. Beka nodded towards the doctor who then adjusted the contraption around Harper's face to open his eyes, taking a laser he began to quietly work.

Beka looked on, seeing the doc working with precision on Harper was both scary and comforting. Trance hadn't had the confidence to do what Richter was performing, and she simply hoped they had picked the best man for the job. Seeing the small laser working around Harper's eyes was not a reassuring sight, as Beka tried to comprehend how the doctor could bring back Harper's sight. A short time later, with the application of a few gel eye drops, the doctor seemed finished and moved away for a moment.

"Is that it?" Beka asked.

"For now, he needs a few more treatments though," the doctor answered. "All I have done is cleaned and tidied up the damage area, on waking up, even at this early stage, we might find he can identify light, or in some cases outlines like shadows," Richter smiled.

"Will he be in pain, you said patients felt uncomfortable?" Beka asked.

"He might feel some discomfort from the actual procedure, he's had a laser in both eyes basically burning damaged tissue away," Richter answered. "It'll be similar to rash or sunburn," he added.

"Harper's use to both those sensations," Beka smiled.

"The main uncomfortable aspect is the seeing," Richter then offered, with seriousness. "You have to understand that in cases like Mr Harper's he's known sight, and then it's taken away, that's a traumatic enough experience but the darkness soon becomes their sanctuary," he explained. "I'm sure you have felt that at times since he became blind that he was detached from you, that in a room full of people, he would act as if he was alone."

"Yeah," Beka realised, quickly remembering the earlier chat with Harper. "He's been a lot quieter, more keeping to himself especially after what happened to him with the Patriarch," she offered distantly, then quickly continued not wishing to dwell. "He mentioned some apprehension to seeing again, feared losing what I guess he sees in his mind at the moment for comfort," she added.

"That is because without sight they feel as if they are not truly in the same place as you, they can not react or see the subjects that for sighted people make that room interesting," Richter stated, as he cleared away his equipment. "Now this procedure is going to integrate the patient back into the seeing world, slowly and sometimes this can be just as traumatic to the patient as losing their sight in the first place."

"Harper should be fine though," Beka spoke brightly. "He's been able to see since his injuries, using ship sensors and he developed a system where by he had mobile sight using his data port," she added.

"That might work to his advantage," Richter agreed, and then checked Harper's heart rate. "He's coming too," he advised, and Beka immediately moved closer. "He might be disorientated, and judging by his reaction to being restrained, he might panic and it's essential that for the next hour at least he remains still."

"Got you," Beka frowned, and took hold of Harper's good hand. "Seamus, can you hear me?" she asked, when she saw the human begin to stir.

It took a few moments before it became apparent that Harper was awake again, and the grimace on his face was the biggest sign. "Beka?" he asked shakily.

"It's ok, you've had some work done on your eyes, remember?" Beka prompted. "That doctor we stole? He did it," she added with a grin, as Richter smirked behind her. Harper only tensed, and his breathing became rapid, as Beka figured that he had realised that he couldn't move. "Seamus, its ok don't panic, I'm right here and you're ok," Beka insisted with more urgency.

"Hurts," Harper simply spoke.

Beka glanced at the doctor, who immediately moved to his medicines but signalled to her that it was ok. "It will, Seamus, you've had work done to your eyes and they'll be tender for a little while, the doctor will give you something to ease it," she then spoke, seeing Richter produce more of the eye drop gel. "Everything will be ok," she continued.

At that moment the Maru suddenly shook, and a loud explosion was heard. Beka looked upwards, and cursed the timing. "I have to go check it out," Beka insisted, then looked at Harper. "Stay calm, its ok," she assured him before leaving his side, just as another hit sent her flying head first into the bulkhead.

"Beka!" Richter called out, seeing the captain slump to the floor.

"What's going on?" Harper called out desperately.

"Don't panic, Mr Harper," Richter shouted, as he busily checked that Beka was ok.

"Is Beka there?"

"She's had a fall, but she's fine," Richter answered with distraction.

The ship shook again, and Harper struggled, as much as he could against the restraints. "Let me go!" he yelled. "I have to do something, Beka's out, right?"

With some hesitation the doctor knew he'd have to come clean, as another explosion shook the ship. "She's hit her head, she's out cold," he confirmed. "But you can't be moving around, not whilst your eyes," The doctor tried to explain but was quickly cut off.

"The ship is going to be destroyed if you don't release me!" Harper snapped. "Then I won't need my freaking eyes!" he added angrily to make his point.

Richter had to concede that Harper was right, but he only moved to Harper's side to continue with his work, as he applied the eye gel to Harper's eyes, despite the engineers enraged protests. Unable to move anything other than his legs, Harper was helpless to stop the doctor, as the ship continued to be battered around them.

Harper then froze when he felt the ship shudder, recognising the noise of a ship docking.

"Aw crap," Harper sounded frightened now. "Please, doc, release me, don't leave me like this!"

"Just a few more seconds, I'm almost done," Richter spoke engrossed in his work, seemingly unaware of the events happening around him.

"They are in the freaking airlock!" Harper snapped, with a panicked tone.

"Trust me, I do this now you'll thank me later, your eyes can not be left untreated or the damage will be permanent regardless of what happens now!" Richter snapped back. "I had to complete this stage of treatment, even if a little rushed; it's the only way your sight has a chance to return."

Harper could only hear the sounds of heavy footsteps along the Maru corridor, knowing they were doomed, and he was still restrained. He was about to plead to the doc once more to release him, but it was already too late, as he heard at least four people arrive in the quarters and stop, before they yelled at the doc to move aside.

TBC


	12. Part 12

Part 12

Taking some needed breaths Harper listened intently to the footsteps as they approached him, and then he felt a hand being placed on his chest and he involuntarily jumped.

"Well, well," Gerentex's voice spoke up. "It's almost as if you were being prepared for me," he added, and Harper could almost hear the smile that was now reflected in Gerentex's tone.

"Go to hell," Harper snapped, realising who had boarded the ship and why.

"I was hoping to send you there, but now I have to keep you alive I guess I'm just going to have to have some fun at your expense," Gerentex sighed.

Harper tried to listen for any sign of Richter or Beka, but heard nothing but Gerentex and his men.

"It must be terrible to be blind," Gerentex continued talking. "I guess however that it's comforting to know you don't simply exist to only annoy me, that you have annoyed others too," he then added.

"You still owe me money," Harper snapped, remaining defiant.

"And what possible use could you have for money, with a death wish such as yours?" Gerentex countered.

"I don't have a death wish!" Harper returned just as quickly.

"So it wasn't you pleading with me in that ally for me to end your life?" Gerentex fired back.

"Seamus?" Beka's voice now spoke up, almost in a whisper, and Harper figured she must have only just come around. "What does he mean?" she prompted.

"He's talking crap as usual, Beka," Harper quickly responded, but with fear in his voice. "I didn't plead anything, I just couldn't fight being blind, remember?" Harper directed his anger towards the rat.

"Now, now, Mr Harper," Gerentex continued to mock him. "I hardly think that an annoying little specimen like you would let blindness come between you having the opportunity to kick the crap out of me," he spoke knowingly.

"I was having a really bad day, and I couldn't be bothered to get my boots dirty," Harper snapped.

"You let me slice your wrists open," Gerentex emphasised his words by easily ripping the bandages from both wrists, exposing the wounds, and admiring them for a moment. "I did a good job, nice and clean, should leave a lovely mark, that's my gift to you, Harper."

Harper turned away from Gerentex, no longer wishing to humour the Nightsider. Gerentex looked at his men, and smiled.

"Take Valentine to the holding area, secure her," Gerentex ordered. "The doc, put him in the cargo hold, secure him too," he ordered.

"I'm not leaving Harper with you!" Beka snapped, and began to struggle in the man's hold on her.

"Last time I checked, there was no bounty on you dead or alive," Gerentex now warned in a low voice. "There's no reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."

"I'll give you a reason," Harper now offered sharply. "You kill her, I'll get myself killed before you have a chance to claim anything, got nothing else to live for but Beka, and you won't be able to stop me, and then you'll be the one with a bounty of your head for letting this little bounty die," Harper grinned with menace.

"Harper, don't say that," Beka spoke with concern.

"You offer an interesting theory," Gerentex considered. "And I know you're enough of a psycho to hold true to your word," he added knowingly. "Ok, she'll live but she's not staying to watch the fun I have in store for you, she'll be the reason you do as I say now," Gerentex then announced, and Harper realised what he had done.

"You can't risk harming me," Harper sneered trying to hide his fear. "I'm valuable to you, remember," Harper stressed confidently, hearing Beka being led away with muffled protests, figuring they had taped or gagged her mouth now.

"My boss wants you alive, he never specified if that was barely alive or just alive with a few scratches," Gerentex said with care. "And if you stop me having my fun, then I'll just move on to Beka."

"No!" Harper snapped. "Leave Beka out of this."

"She's who you live for now," Gerentex was having too much fun. "That's what you said, so either you enjoy the pain I have planned for you, or I'll find out if Beka is a more fun participant."

"What the hell do you want from me?" Harper snapped.

"Your co-operation," Gerentex stated. "I've been hired by some clown to bring you in, some Nietzscheans and their stupid pride, seems you've put one of their own on some death row, but it seems such a waste of this opportunity."

Harper listened intently, as Gerentex regaled him with useless information about his previous missed opportunities, and Harper knew this alone could take all day. "Cut to the freaking chase, before I accidentally die from boredom," Harper snapped.

"I want to know what you did to piss off my boss," Gerentex stated.

"Who's your boss?" Harper countered.

"He goes by the name of Rico," Gerentex informed.

Harper baulked in fear, as his mind was filled with the hate filled images of the young Nietzschean who had taken his sight away, had humiliated him in every way. "No way, no fricking way," Harper then stressed, his voice on the edge of panic. "Is he working for Yussuf?"

"I'm the one seeking information, Harper," Gerentex stated.

"If you can't tell me that, I'm telling you nothing!" Harper snapped defiantly, regaining his composure.

"You seem to think you have a choice!" Gerentex returned, and placed his hand around Harper's neck, applying pressure.

"Kill me, I don't care, but I'm not telling you anything," Harper seethed.

"You'd rather die than tell me why this brainless Nietzschean has a bounty on your head?" Gerentex sounded intrigued.

Harper's mind was filled with images of Dani, and then he remembered Yussuf, how that to protect Dani he had vowed to protect the information about him being the slave that had saved the tyrants life. If he told Gerentex anything, he could jeopardise not only his life, and those close to him, but Dani's as well, Harper had no way to be sure Dani was safe from the information he held deep inside, he had no idea if Yussuf even cared anymore, but Harper couldn't take that risk, and no bone in his body wanted to even attempt to take that risk.

"Why do you want to know?" Harper asked wearily, still distracted by his own thoughts on the consequences he could face by talking.

"Well, I only took this job for the satisfaction of making profit in ending your sorry life," Gerentex sighed dramatically. "But things changed, I'm now just your escort, probably so that someone else can the pleasure of ending your worthless existence, you could say the fun has been taken out of the whole job for me, and I've already been paid half," Gerentex shrugged. "I'm looking for compensation, shall we say?" he finished.

"You're playing a dangerous game," Harper warned, though not with concern for Gerentex.

"Rico actually scares you," Gerentex determined with a glint in his eye. "For what has he deserved such honour from a worthless kludge?" Gerentex considered his own question, and then saw Harper's sightless eyes looking blankly up. "Rico blinded you, correct?"

Harper closed his eyes to Gerentex's deduction, and didn't respond. He didn't have to, Gerentex now knew that Rico held some power over Harper, and had taken something very precious away from him. Only now Harper knew Gerentex would want to know why the uber had done it, he was still seeking some retribution from him.

A hand now rested on Harper's forehead, and it wasn't Gerentex's hand, it was one of his hired men. Panic struck the human as he cursed once more his inability to move, he wanted to fight back, to have a chance but here he was, ready and waiting for whatever crap Gerentex had planned and there was nothing he could do to stop it, even if he wanted to, he wasn't going to talk.

"You will tell me why Rico put that bounty on your head," Gerentex spoke with control now. "I want to know the full gory details, and I want to know now," he continued. "If Yussuf is involved, somehow, and you appear to think he is by your earlier question, then I want to see if there's more profit in the information you might know," he finished, confirming Harper's fears.

"Don't be so sure I'll tell you," Harper stressed. "I know you are not trusted by Yussuf, I've done my home work, I read reports on you, interesting reading," Harper mocked, regaining some control. "You've been banned from Yussuf's sectors with orders of shoot to kill if you're seen," Harper stated quickly, then considered his own words. "You traded one too many bad deals on his patch and you're just as much a wanted man as I am, but if that's the case, why would Rico hire you?" he asked himself. "Unless Rico has also fallen foul of Yussuf, then hiring you makes sense," he figured with renewed energy, and defiance. "So I'm telling you nothing, because you can't do anything to me!"

"But I can," Gerentex smiled. "I was unfairly banished from that system, but I'm sure I can make amends to Yussuf by giving him what he wants."

"Me?" Harper scoffed, Gerentex clearly had no idea and it amused Harper to think that the rat faced fool would think Yussuf would want to see him again, considering the implications that might entail.

"There's more here, I realise that human," Gerentex snarled, showing some intelligence that Harper hadn't given him credit for. "And you're going to tell me every thing I need to know, no lying, no faking, just the truth."

"No way," Harper grinned now, mocking his captor. "I'll make every last bit up, nothing will be true but you'll never know what to believe."

Harper felt his jaw being forced open and held, and his breathing rapidly quickened with uncertainty. He could sense Gerentex close to him now, before jumping as he felt a metallic device being lodged into his mouth, to force it open as wide as it could go.

"For a kludge, Mr Harper, you have immaculate teeth," Gerentex then spoke with observation. "Let me see if I can't do something about that."

Unable to form words now, with his mouth forced open, Harper made whatever noise he could to try and stop what Gerentex had planned, as he struggled against his restraints. He then felt a smaller clamp rest around one of his back teeth, reminding him of the barbaric dentist techniques he had seen on Earth. Remembering as a kid that it had been enough of a deterrent to make him take extra care of his own teeth to avoid the pain he saw, even in the camps he managed to keep them as clean as he could.

Now Gerentex had a hold on one of his teeth, and Harper braced himself, closing his eyes as he did so.

"You have one last chance before pain, tell me why Rico has a price on your head," Gerentex requested, and as an incentive he tugged a little on the tooth he head causing Harper to jerk sharply, but still he shook his head in defiance, before omitting a very loud painful scream as Gerentex set roughly to work on removing Harper's tooth.

TBC


	13. Part 13

Part 13

Beka had heard enough, the screams had been constant for nearly five minutes and she couldn't bear to hear Harper in such pain, anymore. The screams had fuelled her on, as she finally struggled enough to catch some slack with her restraints, she had been rubbing the rope against a rough section of metal and it had finally given way.

Untying the rope around her feet, Beka stood up and located a panel in the deck plating that she easily removed. Too many times she had found herself trapped on her own ship by wannabe ship stealers, that she was now prepared as she lifted out a weapon and charged it up.

The guard on watch was down in less than five seconds and the second one patrolling the corridor fell soon after. Beka knew the third hired hand would be with Richter, the fourth and final goon would be with Gerentex, so she headed towards the place where she still heard Harper's screams, dreading what she would seen, having never heard him quite so distressed before.

Gerentex stopped his work immediately on hearing the weapon charge behind him, and the fourth goon soon offered his hands in surrender as he backed away from holding Harper's head.

"Beka?" Gerentex questioned.

"Move away from Harper," Beka ordered, and tried to ignore the blood she saw, and the large amount of it, but Gerentex was in no hurry. "I said move away!" she yelled with force, ready to kill if she had to, and this time Gerentex appeared to pick up on her mood, and moved aside. "You," Beka gestured to the goon. "How much is he paying you? Would you tie him up if I promise double and your life?"

Without another thought the goon retrieved some bandages and immediately secured Gerentex.

"Good, now you're on my side, you do as I say and I won't kill you!" Beka stressed, wanting to go to Harper's side but feeling she needed to tidy things up first. "Go get your friends, take your ship and leave, don't ever come back and I'll transmit your payment once you are three light years away, ok?"

"What about him?" the man asked, gesturing to a panicked looking Gerentex.

"Leave him, I'll deal with him," Beka stated. "Now go!"

The man wasted no time in leaving, and Beka waited a moment before hearing the familiar sounds of people leaving her ship. Once she was sure the hired hands were following her plan, she turned to Harper and instantly caught her breath at the sight. Blood literally poured from his forced open mouth, so much blood, and she moved to his side.

"Harper?" Beka hurriedly spoke, seeing the tears that also escaped his eyes.

Harper could only grunt, and clearly in pain he was trying to remain focused but failing as his eyes opened and closed rapidly. Seeing the device that was forcing his mouth open, Beka worked quickly to remove it and as she did so, she could see the damage Gerentex had done to the inside of Harper's mouth, a gaping hole towards the back of his mouth where a tooth had once been, but now filled with blood.

"What's happened?" Richter's voice interrupted Beka's fixation on Harper's bloodied mouth.

"Pulled a fricking tooth," Beka responded, and she glanced at Gerentex with contempt before rushing over and grabbing his jaw. "How about I return the favour, huh?" Beka screamed in the rats face.

Gerentex was trembling in Beka's hold now, until the doctor calmly moved Beka away. "That won't help Harper," he spoke softly.

Beka swiftly brought her hand back, and then delivered a fierce blow across the Nightsider's face knocking him out.

"That might not have helped, but I sure as hell feel better," Beka seethed, before returning her attention back to Harper. She immediately set about releasing her friend from the restraints, and Harper responded immediately as he began to move from the cot immediately the restraints were lifted. "Ok, Harper, it's ok," Beka tried to assure him but Harper was too distraught and worked up to listen to her, as he pushed past her and blindly scrambled away.

Beka reached out and grabbed Harper, preventing him going too far in his distressed state. He struggled for a moment before Beka's soothing voice reached him, as she continued to assure him that he was safe now.

"Doc, do you have anything you can give him?" Beka then asked, she couldn't imagine the pain Harper was in but her words caused him to start struggling again, making it clear that he didn't want anything from the doctor. "I need to calm him down," Beka offered to Richter, knowing Harper was too hysterical at that moment to listen to her. "Maybe you can secure our guest, and then get something to eat or something, give us some time?" she suggested and Richter slowly nodded his head to agree to the plan.

"Come on, Seamus," Beka encouraged her friend to move and he seemed to relax slightly as they left the makeshift medical area. "You need to be cleaned up, so off to the shower room," she stated and Harper didn't argue, and she realised that he hadn't said anything at all, just lately that seemed to be a trend with her friend when he became distressed, shutting himself away into his own mind.

They reached the shower room, and Beka encouraged Harper to sit on the deck with his back against the wall, whilst she got a clean cloth and some water to begin cleaning him up with. The warm water soon turned a distinctive red colour, as Beka cleaned up Harper's face and neck, the front of his shirt now stained by his own blood. In silence Beka retrieved some cold drinking water and brought the glass to Harper's lips and he eagerly took some sips, then gulps and Beka saw the water once again turning red the more he drank.

"Are you ok?" Beka then asked, once she put the glass to one side, she then smirked with sadness, unable to believe her own question. "How can I even ask that, how can you be ok?" she then stated in Harper's silence. Her hand now absently stroked Harper's face, his sightless eyes stared numbly ahead, and she wasn't even sure that he was acknowledging her anymore.

"I keep telling you that things will get better, Seamus, but they keep getting worse," she frowned and then moved to sit next to Harper, with a sigh she let he head fall back against the wall. "I don't know how much more of this I can take, you joke about the universe hating you, well I'm beginning to believe it," she stated, but there was no amusement in her tone, as she brought her hand to her face and rubbed her temple. "We should let the doc check your mouth, there's a lot of blood," she idly remarked now, sounding despondent.

"No," Harper finally spoke.

"How do you do it?" Beka then asked quietly.

"Do what?"

Beka sighed without answering, and she was now fighting to keep the tears in check, but her eyes were rapidly beginning to water. She brought her hand up to her face once more, desperate to hold it together but her emotions had reached breaking point and she wasn't sure if she could carry on. They had lost everything, and she was being forced to continue watching her friend suffer.

"Don't cry, Beka, you know I hate it when you cry," Harper spoke evenly, without emotion.

"What the hell have we done to this universe, Seamus?" Beka then asked angrily, still struggling to contain her emotions.

"It's me, not you," Harper offered, and he reached over to grab the glass needing to cleanse his mouth of the bloody taste.

"It's not you, Harper it's this crappy universe, the one that has taken everything away from us, taken your sight, tried to take your freedom, and makes shit happen on a daily basis," Beka stormed. "I don't think I can keep watching you suffer, I can't keep trying to tell you things will be ok when it seems at every stop there's someone ready to kill you!" she stressed, as the tears began to fall.

Beka felt Harper's hand on her face, as his thumb wiped away her tears with care. She narrowed her eyes, seeing the strange expression on his face as he did so. "What?" Beka asked, confused and then he began to laugh, at first just a smirk until it turned into a full on laugh, he was teasing her.

"If you could see yourself right now, Beka," Harper offered with a smile.

"Harper?" Beka suddenly grabbed his arms and she manoeuvred herself in front of him, she then looked at the glass he had picked up, before looking back at him. "You can see?"

"Not exactly, it's kind of blurred, not picking out colours too well, finer details but I see 'something', I can see enough of you to know your sat there, where your face is," Harper answered.

"Why didn't you say?"

"It was more fun this way, and I needed cheering up," Harper shrugged, not looking away from her face, as if looking at it for the first time. "Sorry it was at your expense but when I squint, I can just about make out your expression and that was priceless," he smiled genuinely.

"I don't believe it, after just one treatment?" Beka gasped almost before she began to finally smile in joy.

"Needed some good news, right, boss?" Harper frowned, and then partially grimaced as his hand felt along his jaw.

"Let the doctor give you something for the pain," Beka spoke with care.

"He left me like that, Beka," Harper now seethed, his anger returning. "I lost that tooth to the stupid rat because of him, there's no way he's coming near me again!"

"But your sight, it's returning, you have to let him finish his work," Beka stressed, still holding Harper's arms.

Harper was already shaking his head. "My sight," he began, his voice shaking with both anger and fear. "It began to return just as that damn rat faced freak began to start pulling," he explained with venom. "It returned enough for me to see just a fraction of the joy on Gerentex's face to my pain."

All the while as Harper spoke, Beka comforted him and was soon holding him close to her, as they adopted a now familiar pose for a while. After a few minutes had passed without word, Harper quickly got to his feet, and moved to the basin and ran the water, cleaning out his mouth and freshening up as he ran his hands over his face.

Without any word, he headed to the exit and Beka now got to her feet. "Harper, wait up, where are you going?"

"I need to see someone," Harper returned, too quickly and angrily for Beka's liking. She hurried to her feet knowing she had to stop Harper, before he did something to make a bad situation worse.

"Whoa, hold up," Beka began to run, to catch him up and managed to pull him back, as she pushed him gently into the bulkhead to stop him. "If you're planning anything, Harper, stop right now," she warned, seeing the anger in the engineer's blue eyes. "I know how you think, and doing anything to either Gerentex or the doctor will not help matters."

Harper took some deep breaths, and slowly managed to relax knowing that Beka had stopped him from doing something stupid. Beka stood before him now just observing his reactions, and her slightly taller frame easily surrounded him. Finally he looked at her, through blurry vision he could make out her shape at least, but it still was too dark to recognise colour, or see her expression from this distance.

"You should rest," Beka then suggested fondly. "I'll see if we have anything in the medical cabinet to help you sleep, and to kill the pain?" she added.

The pain was more an ache now, as he felt his jaw simply throbbing around the area where his tooth had been pulled. Harper sighed, and felt the desire suddenly to sleep as Beka had suggested, but he felt too worked up to be able to unaided, so nodded his head to Beka's offer of medical assistance.

She led Harper through to his bunk, before leaving him to retrieve some painkillers. Alone finally, Harper sat on the edge of his bunk with his head in his hands. In what seemed like a flash Harper's eyes suddenly focused enough for him to make out the deck flooring, and he jumped with panic before the image blurred to a jumbled mess again, then a sharp pain hit his eyes and as he looked up he saw the bunk opposite in a flash of vision that just as quickly blurred again, but after a few moments he felt himself begin to shake, as his breathing quickened.

Trying to regain control, Harper rubbed his temples, having not noticed the headache he now seemed to have. Getting to his feet, Harper tried not to let the shock of seeing the real world again affect him like it was, but he was feeling hot and he reached out to the opposite bunk to steady himself, feeling dizzy suddenly, as a couple more flashes of vision hit him, disorientating him. Even though the light was low, Harper now had to close his eyes as shooting pain seemed to hit him, and his eyes began to rapidly water. Adding to his confusion Harper then felt hands on his arms pushing him back, until he was encouraged to lie down on the bunk that he was now pushed against.

"Beka?" Harper questioned, about to ask her for help, he wanted the flashes of vision to stop, he desperately needed to rest and to get use to the idea of the seeing world again, but a hand suddenly covered his mouth. Harper immediately snapped alert, and he began to struggle.

TBC


	14. Part 14

Part 14

"Did it work?"

Harper froze on hearing a voice by the door, concentrating now, knowing it was Gerentex who had spoken. The hand still covered his mouth, as he continued to struggle in vain, his mind was drifting but he was determined to not let his confused mind distract him.

"Seamus, you will be quiet," Doctor Richter hissed, easily containing Harper as he pressed him down against the cot. "I know who you are, and I know exactly what you did, I've known all along," he stated quickly. "I also know who has the bounty on your head, and now we need to be elsewhere."

"Hurry up, I don't want to still be on this thing when she wakes," Gerentex stressed. "I couldn't make him talk before, but I will," he stated firmly.

Harper wanted to speak but with the hand still firmly placed across his mouth, he was only able to make a few panicked noises, his head still spinning and he felt himself burning up, he really didn't feel too good.

"Damn," Richter then seemed to then notice Harper's state. "He's burning up."

"What?" Gerentex moved closer.

"He's shaking, he has a fever, I think," Richter then observed, his medical instincts returning as he removed his hand from the human's mouth, seeming to know that something was wrong when Harper did not respond to being released, not even attempting to call for help.

Feeling as though he was on fire, Harper groaned as his head rolled to the side, he desperately wanted to do something now that Richter had removed some of his hold on him but he was unable to. His body no longer responded, he felt weak and soon fear crept in, as Harper fought to remain awake but at the same time he was unable to slip into unconsciousness.

"What's wrong with him?" Gerentex impatiently asked.

"It's seemed similar to shock, at a guess, but I see no source, and the reaction is severe," Richter observed with concern, checking Harper's slow responses now. "It could almost be a delayed reaction, maybe to your little teeth stunt earlier, or maybe some of his sight has returned and he's reacting to it, or there might be something else I haven't accounted for."

"Maybe a bit of everything," Gerentex suggested with an uncaring shrug. "This runt is well known for being weak," he stated. "We both read the file they had on him, tracing his movements after leaving Yussuf blinded and crippled, the Patriarch caught him, did something to his head, and he was attacked by Magog, barely survived the battle that saw the Andromeda explode."

"I almost feel sorry for him," Richter frowned.

"Remember our objective, doctor," Gerentex warned.

"I remember," Richter found an injector and pressed it to Harper's neck. "This should settle him down."

"Secure him, and let's get this ship moving," Gerentex ordered. "We're already four men down, oh, remind me to order their deaths when we're done," he said with venom. "I know one thing, and that is we can't afford to let this one loose, now we have him."

"He's blind, partially crippled and now sick with fever," Richter was about to protest.

"Secure him!" Gerentex blasted, before leaving the room.

Richter silently set to work in securing the human, who had quickly responded to the drug, and was now sleeping soundly whilst the fever slowed down. Richter was concerned, Harper's body had gone into some kind of delayed shock and they were now playing a risky game with the human's health, he considered, and all his medical instincts were screaming at him to abort their plans. On his own initiative, Richter set to work on running some tests, determined not to let the plan blind his own professionalism.

* * *

The coldness hit her first, then the pain in her head as she wearily pushed herself up from the deck. The silence then made her more aware, the Maru engines were offline, so she was either docked or stranded. Beka got to her feet, and using the bulkheads for support, she staggered initially along the walkways to the command section and saw the blanket of stars around her, and not much else.

The power was completely drained she realised, as she sat herself in the pilot seat, ignoring the thumping headache she had.

"Harper?" Beka spoke his name at first, before scrambling to her feet. "Harper!" she yelled, as she broke into a run, checking every part of the Maru and as her search continued through the cold and empty ship, her fears were realised.

In the engine room, usually so full of life, and noise, Beka sank to her knees and the tears fell once more; she knew Harper wouldn't be there this time to wipe them away.

"I'm going to kill that rat," Beka seethed with anger, through the tears, her hands tightly fisted now, as her mind filled with concern for Harper.

A chill suddenly made her shiver, she needed to return power to the ship or she'd be dead before she had a chance to rescue Harper. Beka got to her feet, and with a new determination she reached a console, but found even the emergency power had been drained; her ship was dead in space. Trying not to panic, Beka hurried towards the service area, she needed to think clearly and she needed to eat but on arriving she discovered that it wasn't only the power reserves that had been emptied, there wasn't a scrap of food or drink on board.

"Crap," Beka could only remark, as she turned back to the command area. With fear creeping into her actions she tried all the tricks she knew to force life into the consoles, into the communication systems, but there was nothing and Beka began to panic.

"She's alive, just."

"Take her to med deck, inform Trance."

"I'm already here, Dylan."

Beka opened her eyes in panic and took a sharp intake of breath, looking straight into the eyes of a dead man. Backing away quickly with confusion, Beka tried to breath but the vision was strong, and had her arms now, holding her still.

"Beka, you are weak from hunger and cold," Rhade spoke with care. "You're going to be ok, now."

"Rha," Beka managed before words failed her, Rhade's hold was the first bit of warmth she had felt for what seemed an age.

"It's me, Beka," Rhade smiled, and she noticed his longer hair, a more relaxed stance about him. "I never thought I'd see you again, Beka, I thought you were dead."

"I was about to say the same thing," Beka finally managed a sentence, still breathing heavily, her eyes remained wide.

"It's a long story, but we're back now, we would have found you sooner but we were not sure there was anything to find," Rhade frowned for a moment. "By chance we picked up a trace of the Maru, and then Trance helped us to find you."

"Harper," Beka then spoke in panic.

"He's not with us," Rhade was quick to answer. "We believe that he was on the Arkology with Rommie, when it was destroyed, he never made it to the place where we were taken."

"He was on the Arkology," Beka agreed. "But I saved him."

"Where is he now?"

"He disappeared," Beka answered, looking distressed again.

"Disappeared?" Rhade looked doubtful. "Come on, we need to get you warmed up and fed, you've looked better."

With her thoughts consumed by Harper's disappearance, Beka numbly walked with Rhade onto the familiar decks of the Andromeda, and her confusion and shock resurfaced. "This isn't possible, I saw this, everyone destroyed," Beka fretted now, as she struggled in his hold, unable to believe what she was seeing and fearing some sort of trap.

"Trance, I think I'm going to need a sedative for Beka," Rhade spoke up, trying to contain the blonde captain.

"This isn't real, who are you, stop messing with me!" Beka now raged, as she allowed her doubts to turn to suspicion. "You have Harper; you've got him haven't you? This is some test, or you've killed him already and now it's my turn!"

"Trance, right now!" Rhade yelled, as he continued to stop Beka from hurting herself and him in the process.

TBC


	15. Part 15

Part 15

Dylan Hunt never thought he'd see his first officer again, as Beka lay unconscious on the cot. She looked pale and lifeless, her skin gaunt and her eyes hollow from a mixture of starvation and hypothermia. He hadn't quite believed it when they discovered recent Maru activity on the scanners, then to find it dead in space, Dylan had feared the worst.

"She isn't in the best shape," Rhade moved forward next to Dylan. "And I think she's lost her mind, scans indicated she hasn't eaten anything substantial for days, and she almost froze to death."

"In her time frame, we were only gone a week, no one goes mad in a week, Rhade," Dylan objected.

"She thought we were all dead," Rhade reminded him. "She must have seen what happened, she had no food on board, her ship was dead in space; who knows what that can do to someone, even Beka."

"Tell me what she said about Harper again," Dylan asked, as he considered Rhade's words.

"Said she got him from the Arkology, and then he disappeared, she then thought we have killed him and had come back to kill her," Rhade remembered.

"Harper couldn't have just disappeared," Dylan objected. "He was blind; he needed the Maru, so how why would he have disappeared, and left Beka behind?"

"Why was the Maru shut down; drained of power?" Rhade asked to counter Dylan's questions and tone. "Maybe whoever did that, took Harper?"

"There's no sign of a fight on board, if there had been hostilities on board that ship, we'd have found evidence and there was nothing," Dylan insisted.

"I have to agree on that, I have found no evidence, but I still find Beka's words concerning," Rhade admitted. "Finding her in that state, it was not expected."

"Did she mention Rommie?" Dylan then asked.

"No," Rhade answered.

"Harper was with Rommie on the Arkology, and neither of them has been seen since it was destroyed," Dylan sighed. "Other than the words of a hysterical Beka," he added.

"You still think Harper is dead?" Rhade figured. "Along with Rommie."

"If Harper had still been alive, he would have been with either Rommie or Beka, or we'd have found him in Seefra with us," Dylan said trying to make sense of it. "You were on the Arkology too and found yourself there," Dylan stated as fact, then sighed. "He's not with Beka, and we have absolutely no trace on Rommie, the Andromeda's presence back in this system would have been felt by Rommie, if she was in this sector," Dylan stated. "In seven days without a ship she wouldn't have got far, even with Harper, so yes, I firmly believe they were both on the Arkology when it exploded."

Rhade frowned. "Beka truly seemed to believe Harper was on the Maru with her," he offered, considering the benefit of doubt. "And Harper did have a bounty on his head when we were last in this universe, just because we left doesn't mean life stopped on this side of the Route of Ages."

Dylan sighed. "We were also convinced that Beka was dead," he remembered. "But we've found her," he added, with tired hope. "All those months we searched for Beka, Harper and Rommie in Seefra, nearly a year, yet they were left behind all along, dead or dying," he gestured to Beka's sleeping form.

"Makes you wonder why they were left behind," Rhade offered. "Having all three of them in Seefra might have meant we would have got home sooner, especially Harper when we started dealing with those suns, why did Trance only bring us two to Seefra? It makes no sense."

"We somehow managed, though, thanks to lady luck," Dylan sighed. "But I thought we left all the problems behind."

"We did that when we arrived in Seefra," Rhade pointed out.

"Now we have try and help Beka, try and determine what is true and what is not, as well as get our own heads together after our experience in Seefra, and with what's transpired," Dylan frowned. "I'm just getting used to the fact I've found my home," he sighed, and showed how distracted he actually was.

"Those two were close, and if Harper is actually dead then it must have hit her hard, they were like brother and sister," Rhade acknowledged. "I will sweep the system for reports, just in case, maybe she was telling the truth about Harper disappearing."

"Do it," Dylan agreed, and rubbed his face, feeling tired. "If you find a strong enough lead, we'll follow it, but right now I need to return to Tarn Vedra, I hope you can understand."

"I understand, I too wish to reunite with my wife; and children soon," Rhade acknowledged in understanding. "I've been away from this universe for too long to not start prioritising some of my time."

"The Andromeda is on course for Tarn Vedra, and once there I will be planet side for a few days, keep me updated if you find anything," Dylan ordered. "Oh, and when you're ready to depart for Tarazed, feel free to take a slip fighter," he added.

"Thanks," Rhade offered. "So what are your long term plans now that we're back?" he then asked. "Continue with rebuilding the Commonwealth?"

Dylan paused, and didn't appear to have an answer, as he shrugged. "I honestly don't know, right now for the first time in my life I don't have an answer," he admitted.

"Do you know what Trance's plans are?" Rhade then asked, but Dylan could only shrug in response, as he backed away and left med deck. Rhade was left to look down at Beka, still sleeping as her body was recovering with the aid of IV drips. "And what are your plans now, Beka?" he asked, not expecting a reply, but his concern was clear as he fondly stroked her hand.

* * *

Trance sat alone in her quarters, focusing her energy as she explored the universe around her. The past few weeks had been a testing time, and one that she was still recovering from, and she knew now that in other possible futures things hadn't been so tough in Seefra, she had sensed that all of them had been in Seefra in other timelines, and they had worked together, but this timeline was not that one and she now felt sadness that maybe even though she succeeded, she might have lost as well.

Her eyes watered, as she considered her own situation. Her sun was now in its rightful place, her destiny revealed and accomplished, her work was now done. Trance also knew that things would get easier now, the order had returned, no more needing to manipulate the universe and its people to achieve her goals, now she had time to simply exist, and even play again, just as she did in her early days.

Her thoughts returned her to her youth, when she was the carefree youngster. Trance remembered fondly her tail, and ability to be destructive when she was trying so hard to be careful, her childish charm. When she was different, and with that thought Trance looked at herself in the mirror and frowned, when she was the colour of youth, she considered, suddenly feeling very old as she looked at her reflection, seeing the adult colourings of her people.

As she continued to remember her youth, her purple energy and enthusiasm, she remembered the one person she considered her best friend and partner in crime a lot of the time, Seamus Harper. In those days she was easily a match for his own enthusiasm and energy, able to keep up with his spirit and wild abandon. They were both older now, wiser to the horrors of the universe, so much had happened between them, and now she wasn't even sure he was still alive.

So she continued searching for any trace, having by chance found Beka by the same method, Trance wouldn't give up until she knew for sure of Harper's fate, and time now allowed her some personal space.

TBC


	16. Part 16

Part 16

Beka opened her eyes again, and instantly recognised the Med Deck, the same Med Deck she had seen destroyed whilst watching the Andromeda break into pieces just a few days earlier. Her mind was crystal clear in that one image, and it drove her to distraction, she had seen this ship blow up and now she was waking up on it.

"Things are not always as they seem."

"Trance," Beka said calmly. "You have to be behind this, you know what I saw was real," she stated with a hint of anger.

"You said you had Harper with you," Trance responded.

"Yes," Beka answered. "I returned to the Arkology, and was able to rescue him before it exploded."

"He was supposed to remain," Trance simply said, with a touch of coldness in her voice. "You could have cost all of us our lives, and the stability of this universe."

Beka fully focused on Trance with a firm stare, having only just woken up and still feeling fogginess in her head she had to check. "Excuse me?"

Trance took a deep breath. "But as things stood, we were able to get by, only just but we managed, somehow, and I'm still not sure how," Trance relaxed into her normal composure.

"What the hell are you talking about, this ship exploded, Trance, and you with it!" Beka stormed. "I saw Dylan head into the Route of Ages, I saw the Arkology with Rhade still on it break into pieces before blowing up!"

"You should have stayed close," Trance stated. "Instead you resisted me, and I wasn't able to keep us all together."

"I saved mine, and Harper's life," Beka simply responded, and rubbed her face to try and clear the haze.

"What happened to Harper?" Trance asked.

Beka closed her eyes, and sighed. "We went to Sinti," she remembered. "A doctor was there, he said he could restore Harper's sight."

"Impossible, Harper's eyes were beyond repair," Trance objected. "I did all I could without any success."

"This doctor was good, in fact after just one session Harper was able to see something again," Beka enthused. "He treated him on the Maru."

"On the Maru?" Trance sounded doubtful. "Beka, that kind of surgery could never have been conducted on the Maru."

"Well it was!" Beka raged.

"There was absolutely no trace of anything but you on the Maru when we found her drifting in space," Trance argued.

Beka let her head drop, as she sat up on the cot. "When the Maru completely shut down, the cold of space can sometimes effect the atmosphere, cleanse it, purifying agents, I don't know," Beka suggested tiredly, trying to remain calm to Trance's tone, and it was the only explanations she could find off the top of her head.

"That is a possibility that Andromeda suggested," Trance offered.

"I'm not crazy, Trance," Beka then looked at her old friend with pleading eyes. "I know Harper was with me after the Andromeda blew up, we only had each other but I can't remember much past Sinti, I know the doc came on board, but it's all a blur after that."

"What was the doctor's name?" Trance asked. "Maybe we can contact the medical facility you found him at, they might be able to help us?"

"Ricker, Riker, Richer, something like that, damn my head hurts," Beka now complained rubbing the palm of her hand against her forehead.

"I saw two, possibly three points of impact on your skull, it's little wonder you do not recall events," Trance pointed out.

"One thing I am positive about, Trance, is Harper was on the Maru with me and then he wasn't," Beka stressed with concern. "And I know he's in trouble."

"We need proof," Rhade's voice spoke up now, as he entered the Med Deck.

"Check the Maru logs," Beka suggested.

"All wiped, or warped by the shut down in space," Rhade frowned in response.

Beka paused and then sighed heavily. "You all think I'm nuts, right?" she said with resignation.

"It's fair to say you've just had a week in hell, no one would blame or judge you," Rhade remarked.

"So, go on, tell me what happened to you guys, why are you still alive when I saw you all explode?" Beka challenged.

"Trance transported us to a place called Seefra, we all experienced at least a year in the system, we had to save it and in doing so we've found Tarn Vedra," Rhade surmised, as quickly as he could.

"You're telling me you lived a year in a week, saved a whole system I've never heard of and found Tarn Vedra, and you think I'm crazy?" Beka questioned, not amused.

"There was a lot more to it than that," Trance offered. "But Rhade summed it up enough," she added.

"If I believe your story, will you believe mine and help me find Harper?" Beka then asked, pleading in her voice.

"I will," Rhade returned.

"Rhade, your family need you, as do your people on Terazed," Trance pointed out.

"Beka needs me," Rhade stated.

"Hold up, family?" Beka caught with confusion.

"I never mentioned my wife and children before," Rhade shrugged. "And they will understand," he said returning his attention to Trance.

"Understand you leaving with two women, to find a man you're not even convinced is still alive?" Trance questioned with a brief smile.

"You're beginning to make me suspect that one of your evil sisters has swapped places again," Rhade complained.

Beka couldn't even muster the energy to ask on that one, and just stared at them both before they noticed.

"What?" Trance asked towards Beka.

"The two of you, maybe it was only a week for me but it was clearly longer for you, you were telling the truth," she realised. "You've both changed so much," Beka stated with mild shock. "Rhade, you never used to question any of us, you were too busy kissing ass and Trance, so confrontational?" Beka questioned.

"Seefra tested us all, and maybe we didn't come through completely unscathed," Trance offered sadly. "I will help you find Harper, Beka," she then smiled.

"As will I, I owe it to Harper to help him if he is still alive, and if he needs it," Rhade stated, his thoughts returning to the engineer, remembering he was blind and still feeling the guilt associated with it.

"And your wife will be ok with this?" Beka checked, still getting use to the idea.

"A Nietzschean never asks permission of his wife," Rhade stated, growing tired of their concerns for his wife. "She understands," he added when they both just stared at him.

"Very well, what about Dylan?" Beka asked. "Dylan is here, right?" she checked, remembering she hadn't seen him.

"He's planet side, I'm not sure he's up for a mission right now," Rhade stated.

"Planet side?" Beka checked.

"We're orbiting Tarn Vedra, he's home after more than three hundred years, Beka, and he needs time to adjust," Trance offered, and then she frowned. "Also, you should know that we have picked up reports that Earth has been destroyed."

"What?" Beka immediately asked.

"A culmination of volcanic eruptions and we suspect foul play, but the planet has been destroyed," Rhade supported.

"My god, Harper," Beka found the breath caught in her throat, as she steadied herself on her cot. "What if that's where he went?" she then panicked.

"I know Harper is prone to blowing things up, but I hardly think its fair to blame him for this," Rhade attempted to lighten the mood.

For a moment Rhade regretted his quip, as Beka stared daggers at him but within seconds a brief smile emerged before she hid her face with her hands, clearly trying not to react to Rhade's comment.

"We have to find him," Beka then composed herself, remembering the situation. "He'll need us more than ever if this is true," she stressed.

"We'll find him, if he's there to be found," Rhade confidently spoke, putting a hand on Beka's shoulder for comfort.

TBC


	17. Part 17

Part 17

The softness of the sheets encouraged him to stay where he was, as he adjusted his position only slightly, relaxed and half asleep. He felt safe and warm, and relished the comfort afforded to him. For the first time in a long while he felt ready to face the day, but was in no hurry to do that just yet.

"I know you're awake, Seamus."

Wearily, Harper opened one eye and saw the blurred shape of someone stood by his bed.

"Who is that?" Harper tiredly asked, even though he recognised the male voice immediately.

"You're blind, not stupid."

"Yussuf," Harper acknowledged finally, and begrudgingly moved to sit up, and he rested his back against the back board as he felt a mug of something hot being placed into his hand by someone stood the opposite side of the bed. "I told you before that I didn't want to be waited on," Harper reminded Yussuf.

"You've been sick, and I am just being the good host," Yussuf stated innocently.

"About that, when are you going to tell me what the hell am I doing here, and why am I your guest?" Harper asked snappily, before taking a sip from the mug and tasting something that resembled coffee.

"With your continued outbursts since you got here, to my presence more than anything else, I wasn't sure if you were interested in the truth anymore," Yussuf explained with patience. "So why should I waste my time trying to explain?"

Harper sipped more of the hot drink, his frustration in still not knowing how he had got there remained, but he knew Yussuf had a point, he hadn't been too interested in cooperating, even though so far he'd been treated well by Yussuf's people.

"OK, point taken, and sorry about the biting, but I was a little freaked out," he meekly offered.

"My medical staff had suffered worse, trust me," Yussuf seemed more amused than angry. "You were confused, upset, and in pain, it's understandable," he added.

"So why am I here?" Harper asked again, and he heard Yussuf pull up a chair to sit down, he could just about make out where he was sitting with his blurred vision.

"You saved my life, Seamus, and maybe my initial confusions on that matter have passed now, I heard you needed assistance so I gave it," Yussuf explained. "When we found you, I thought we were already too late," he added. "You were beaten, confused, disorientated and it took us a few hours just to get you to respond to us."

Harper was already shaking his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. "You hate my kind, and didn't you put a bounty on my head?" Harper questioned accusingly.

"Not me," Yussuf revealed confidently. "But I know who did, it was that wayward young fire starter, Rico and his equally demented sister, Darla," he added with a sigh. "They have been a thorn in my side for weeks now, and you are safer here until those two are caught."

"Now I remember Gerentex saying," Harper rubbed his head, trying to unclog the sleep, and recall some of the events that had somehow led him here. "So Rico is not a part of your people now?"

"No," Yussuf simply said.

"Least it's clearer now why I'm here," Harper sighed. "You'd rather put up with me here, than risk Rico actually getting his hands on me and using me against you, right?" Harper guessed and the brief silence answered his question.

"It's good to hear you finally talking to us, after days of silence or mad ranting," Yussuf noted.

"Maybe all I needed was a coffee, and some explanations," Harper gestured to the mug he held, relaxing more in Yussuf's company.

"The drink is called Kastine, but close enough, it has the same effects I hear," Yussuf noted. "Seamus, because of your heroics, you have done nothing but suffer ever since, I shouldn't have let that happen but I have kept a distant eye on your activities, and I know that you have kept to your word," he added, with the touch of respect. "Tell me how many times did that Nightsider try and get information from you?"

Harper grimaced, his back was still sore and even his jaw still ached from the tooth being pulled. "Enough times, but I said nothing, that rat doesn't make me talk."

Yussuf moved from his chair, to the top of Harper's bed. "I saw what Gerentex did to you, even with Doctor Richter's efforts to help you; there was still a lot to tidy up when you got here."

"Doctor Richter helped me?" Harper checked, suddenly unsure. "Where is he now?" he asked, he didn't want that guy anywhere near him after betraying him like he did.

"In one of my prisons," Yussuf's dismissed. "His little band of men will fail in their quest to defeat me."

"And Gerentex?"

"An unfortunate victim of crossfire," Yussuf spoke, and Harper could hear the smile in his voice.

"He brought the farm?" Harper asked, with his own satisfied smile.

"Seamus, I have no idea what I'm going to do with you, but I feel I have treated you badly, and I need to make things up to you," Yussuf offered.

"Plus I'm too dangerous to you to be wandering around this universe for your many enemies to pick up," Harper remarked.

"I want to make your stay here more enjoyable than the last time," Yussuf offered.

"You're not one of the good guys, Yussuf, and I mean that with the highest respect," Harper quickly corrected himself, and only with a hint of sarcasm. "You brought me here for a reason, and not just to protect your good name," he stated with a sneer. "That's just a convenient cover," he added with suspicion.

"I can understand your confusion, and suspicion," Yussuf responded. "Fact remains I would not be here today if you had not saved me that day, and I do my people a disservice if I allow you to continue suffering because of that action, you deserve a lot more."

"I'm not sure I follow," Harper's concern showed in his expression.

"You are not a prisoner, you are a guest, Seamus," Yussuf declared brightly, and Harper wished he could look the guy in the eye to get a better perspective on the situation, he felt very alone as Yussuf continued. "Relax, enjoy my hospitality, my men are under strict orders to treat you as they would a visiting dignitary."

"I remember how your men treated me before," Harper offered.

"The bad fruit has been removed, this pride has had quite a shake up in recent weeks, what happened to you made me realise I had to act, and clean this place up," Yussuf stated.

"I just have one question," Harper then ventured.

"Dani," Yussuf guessed, and could see in Harper's expression that he had guessed correctly. "I suspected that you would ask of her, you have failed to ask after your own crewmates, but some slave you only knew for a couple of weeks, she is the person you ask about so keenly."

"My crew are dead, and Beka," Harper paused, he hadn't even considered her till that moment, and blamed it on Yussuf and his mind games. "Beka will be here soon, to kick your ass," he smirked.

"But you only really want to know about Dani," Yussuf spoke confidently once more.

"Is she still here?"

"She is, but she does not remember you, she has no idea who you are," Yussuf spoke with a touch of joy in his voice. "Her 'problem' flared up again and there was nothing we could do," Yussuf explained in mock care.

"Bull, you just redid the damage you originally did to her!" Harper stated firmly.

"You should rest, my people will bring you food and clothes when you need them," Yussuf simply said, and Harper could just about make out movement, guessing Yussuf was heading towards the door.

"I don't trust you," Harper stated with conviction.

"Then I have my work cut out, don't I?" Yussuf explained, before leaving Harper's quarters.

Harper sat back against the soft pillows, unable to fully take in what had taken place. He was back in Yussuf's palace but this time as some honoured guest, he was never treated like this by tyrants, especially uber tyrants. He was here simply as protection, Yussuf was running scared and that concerned Harper, something was wrong, he figured, but why didn't he just kill him if he was really that much of a threat to Yussuf that the tyrant would bring him here?

Not knowing the layout of his quarters, Harper felt very afraid and alone, until he was made aware again of another presence in the room, as a door was heard closing, and he looked to where he now sensed the other person but he couldn't see anything for looking.

"If you wish to be escorted anywhere, or if you need anything, sir."

Harper's heart missed a beat in an instant. The voice caught him and froze him to the core. "Dani?" he breathlessly spoke.

"Yes, my name is Dani, I have been assigned to assist you by Yussuf, for the duration of your stay."

The mug of now warm Kastine fell from Harper's grasp as he just stared at the blurred outline of a figure now stood by his bed, and then realising that she had absolutely no idea who he was.

* * *

Beka sat on the Maru, finding sanctuary as she felt the warmth returning to her baby. The Andromeda was busy returning power to her ship, and she had found herself here, she needed time to think, and to try to remember.

Her mind was blank, only vaguely remembering sitting in the shower room with Harper, close to tears and his gentle touch. It was the moment she realised that he could see something again, a moment not even her amnesia could let her forget. Beka knew she hadn't imagined or hallucinated that moment, she knew Harper had been on board and she felt she was wasting time trying to convince the others.

Footsteps alerted her to company, and she casually looked up from her place sat on the deck, to see Rhade and Trance joining her.

"Almost back up to full power," Rhade informed her brightly, Beka was still getting used to his new appearance and attitude, and she liked it.

"I'm leaving as soon as it's at full power," Beka announced.

"Beka," Trance spoke up, using that tone that usually had bad news attached to it.

"What?" Beka asked.

"I contacted Sinti, and all of the medical institutes that deal with eye injuries in any shape or form," she began. "None of them have any record of Harper, or of a Doctor who has recently gone missing."

"This is crap," Beka stood up with fury. "I'm not making this up!" she stormed. "I took Harper to Sinti, we checked into a medical centre that specialised in eye surgery, we were shot at," Beka suddenly remembered.

"Shot at?" Rhade picked up.

"Gerentex, we barely escaped, and that's why the doctor came with us and was forced to operate on Harper on board this ship!" Beka realised, as her memory finally returned, if only in a small part.

"Gerentex caught up with you?" Rhade picked up. "So the bounty on Harper's head was still very much around."

"All the reports I have read state that the Andromeda was destroyed, and her crew with it, Beka," Trance stated. "It was universally believed we all perished with it, why would Gerentex know that not only did you survive, but Harper did to?"

"I don't know, Trance," Beka snapped, finding Trance's reluctance to believe her words annoying now. "Maybe they guessed Harper would go to the most reputable eye clinic in the known worlds on Sinti eventually, and posted a spy there, and they got lucky," she offered.

"How did you know to go there?" Rhade asked.

"Harper did this research, he wanted to go before the Arkology but I talked him out of it, and my God why didn't I think of that before?" Beka suddenly moved through her ship and stepped back onto the decks of the Andromeda. "Andromeda, do you still have Seamus Harper's files in your system?"

"Yes, I do," Andromeda's hologram appeared before Beka.

"And did Seamus Harper authorise, that in an emergency I could access his files on the last bit of research he conducted whilst on this ship?" Beka stressed.

Rommie checked her records and then partially smiled. "Authorisation recognised, Beka Valentine, full access in an emergency, and I think we can class the continued disappearance of Seamus Harper as that, to his last created files."

"Transfer them to my quarters," Beka ordered and saw Rommie nod her head to comply.

"Transfer complete," Rommie acknowledged, and flashed out of sight, as Beka wasted no time in reaching her quarters, looking forward to getting some answers that had so far not been forthcoming from her mind, she knew Harper had known to ask for that particular doctor, his research would not only give her a name but also confirm the centre they went to, and she was determined to prove that she wasn't making this all up.

TBC


	18. Part 18

Part 18

He no longer knew what was worse, being separated from Dani and his thoughts being consumed by her, or being with her and she having no idea who the hell he was.

Harper felt her touch on his arm, as she led him through the gardens of the palace, so rich in different aromas, but he had no idea of the detailed beauty around him, he saw only lightness and a blurred mess of colour. Harper had hoped that by spending some time with him, Dani might remember, but so far his theory was falling flat. Deep down however, Harper had realised that he was happy to just be with her, as they walked at a slow pace, arm in arm.

"So, Dani, is this your usual kind of assignment?" Harper asked by way of idle conversation, but finding it difficult to talk to her like she was a stranger. "And you can talk to me, Dani; I'm not going to treat you like a slave."

Dani took a moment before responding. "No, this isn't my usual assignment," she admitted in a low voice, it was obvious that she was cautious of anyone hearing her talk to her assigned master as an equal, and she was uncomfortable talking to him.

"Do you have any idea why you've been assigned to me?" Harper asked casually, hating the fact she wasn't at ease with him.

"Because you are from Earth, like me," Dani responded, her voice lacking the warmth he fondly remembered.

"Is that the only reason?"

"Right now, we need to stick together, after what happened," Dani stated.

"What do you mean?" Harper asked with hope. "After what happened?" Harper questioned her, and was suddenly confused. Her words of 'after what happened' conjured up only the past for him, and he could only think it related to the previous time they had spent together.

"Earth," Dani prompted, and Harper was at a complete loss as to what she meant now, and feeling a little disappointed.

"What about Earth?" He then asked curiously, and with less enthusiasm.

"Where have you been for the past week? It's all this sector has been talking about, and it's why I was removed from my other duties, I was so upset that I didn't leave my quarters for a whole day," Dani offered with surprise. "Earth has been destroyed, it is not more."

"What?" Harper stopped walking, and tried to remember to breath. "I don't, it couldn't, but," Harper panicked trying to understand the news, and Dani got a firmer grip on his arm to prevent him from falling.

"You didn't know," Dani realised and she quickly escorted Harper to the nearby seat. "Earth exploded, completely destroyed, it's gone," she stated.

"It's really gone?" Harper asked with a hollow disbelieving voice. "Why would you lie or joke about it, I just don't," Harper paused mid-sentence, trying to gather his thoughts, and his head moved into his hands as he sat on the bench, Dani sat next to him. "But I never got the chance, my friends, my home," he stressed, trying hard to keep a hold on his suddenly flurry of emotions. "All gone?" he shook his head, not wanting to believe it.

He felt her hand on his back, as tender as he remembered, as she attempted to comfort him. "I wish I had had the chance to get to know Earth better," Dani spoke softly.

Harper now brought his arm around Dani, and they both took comfort from the hold for a few moments. It felt so natural, and Harper was quickly reminded of those thoughts that had plagued him for so long, that he had wanted this so badly, Dani was in his arms again and he didn't want to let go, in a very dark moment, he had found all that he really wanted right there in his arms.

His hand came up and felt Dani's jaw line, as he gently encouraged her to face him, and he traced her cheek and then brushed her hair from her face. Bringing his face closer, he could almost see her now, and all of his emotions and feelings collided as he partially saw and recognised with blurred vision the face that had been the only constant in his mind since losing his sight.

"Dani, I've missed you so much," Harper spoke in barely a whisper with hesitant distraction, his earlier held back emotions threatening to surface now.

"I feel as though I should remember you," Dani could only respond, without reacting to Harper's actions, only accepting his touch. "We've known each other before?"

"Correct," Harper couldn't help the sad smile he now wore. "Dani, I wish we could share this like before, I truly do, but being here with you, it is bringing it all back, our first kiss on the Andromeda, everything."

"Andromeda," Dani repeated. "I remember the Andromeda," she offered.

"What? What do you remember?" Harper asked with renewed hope.

"A room, I was in a room with no air," Dani remembered, and concentrated on her memories, as Harper continued to absently brush her hair back. "Someone saved me," she then looked more closely at Harper and he brought his hand back to his side, as her hand now brushed the side of his face. "You saved me, but I hurt you," Dani struggled with her thoughts. "That's all I remember, that was you, right?"

Harper couldn't hide his beaming smile now, the fact she had remembered something, that she remembered that they had known each other at least, was more than he could have expected, and he embraced her tightly with joy. His thoughts wandered back to Earth, and he suddenly felt guilty for finding some joy after learning he had lost even more now.

"That was me," Harper finally agreed, after a moment of distraction.

"You could see then," Dani then stated, and she suddenly moved her hand away from his face.

"I could, yeah," Harper shrugged, without further explanation but he sensed Dani's sudden anxiety.

"We should return, I can't be seen sitting on the same bench as my master," Dani stated, getting to her feet. "Not like this," she hastily added.

"Wait," Harper stopped her moving any further away, and he felt for both of her hands so he could hold them. "I don't expect you to remember everything, Dani, I'm cool like this, but I won't treat you like a slave," Harper stressed with care. "Dani, we're friends, friends that were forced apart because of our own situations but we have a chance now, and no one will split us up again, even if you don't remember, I do, I have not forgotten a moment, and if Yussuf has a problem with that then he shouldn't have assigned you to me, he knew about our friendship."

"He did?" Dani checked with surprise. "Yussuf doesn't approve of me having friends, especially male friends, but if he knew then you're suggesting that he purposely put us together, and I can't believe that," she stated with concern.

"Right now, Yussuf is one big mind trip, I don't know why he's doing this but I do know he has a reason, and I will find that out, Dani, and it won't be at our expense," Harper stated with confidence. "Take me to see him, please, I want to speak to him."

"No, no way, bad idea," Dani encouraged Harper to move, and she took his hand, making him stand up to follow but he soon forced her to stop.

"Dani, maybe you don't remember me, or what we had together, but I do," Harper stressed once more, knowing his emotions were all over the place, so he took a deep breath, taking a firm hold on Dani to ensure she was focused on him. "I love you, Dani, and I haven't stopped loving you since the day I left this place, and I don't know what mind trip Yussuf has me on, but I won't let him mess with me like this, he won't mess with us again," Harper declared. "Please believe me," he added.

Harper could vaguely see the shape of Dani now, the sun had reappeared in the sky and the light made her easier to see. "Look, sir, you're my mission right now, ok?" Dani told him with an even tone, and she sounded scared in his hold. "Just lately, I've done nothing right, I used to be Yussuf's favourite and now I'm his piece of dirt, and that's if I'm lucky," she stated. "I can't afford to do anything that gets his attention, so if you really do," Dani paused before continuing. "If you really do love me, then don't make me take you to see him, ok?"

"He's been messing with you?" Harper tried to understand, his voice clipped as he tried to control a growing anger.

"He's always has," Dani sighed, and Harper sensed her fear even more now. "Just lately, more so and maybe it's your fault, if we did have this thing between us that he was aware of that I no longer remember, it makes sense now," Dani sighed, as Harper finally let his hold on her go. "Or maybe you're just making this all up so you can claim me too, maybe it's you messing with my head, you wouldn't be the first."

"I wouldn't do that, Dani," Harper insisted softly. "I just want to know why he's brought me here, and why he's put you with me, he hates my kind and now he's giving me all that that I want?" Harper frowned with concern. "Yussuf isn't known for his generosity towards kludges."

"I don't know either, and I barely remember you, I just know that I have a job to do," Dani's voice became colder as she spoke. "Personally I just think Yussuf is humiliating me further by assigning me to serve a kludge, so please let me get this assignment over with, because you're not going to ruin my day, ok?" Dani stressed. "So stop playing these games and getting me mixed up in your flights of fancy."

"Dani, you're talking to me in a way that's not appropriate for a slave to talk to their master," Harper mentioned softly, and before Dani could respond he continued. "And you're talking to me in this way because subconsciously you do know me, and you trust me enough to be comfortable talking to me like this knowing I won't report you, that hug was natural, not forced, and the way you felt compelled to comfort me, that was the Dani I knew," Harper stressed, hiding the hurt he had felt with her words.

"I show some compassion and now I'm supposedly yours?" Dani questioned harshly, then in frustration Harper could hear her calm herself down, and he knew she was stopping herself saying more, to revert back to her training as a conditioned slave. "Follow me, sir," she then spoke with the control of a slave again, as she began to lead Harper back to his quarters.

"Dani, I'm not messing with you," Harper spoke again sincerely, but this time following her as she had requested. "All I've wanted in the past three months is to be by your side again, and I have that, I'm the happiest man alive."

"Sir, I will ensure the cook serves dinner within the hour so you can retire to bed," Dani spoke evenly, and without reaction.

"Dani!" Harper partially snapped at her refusal to acknowledge him, then sighed when she didn't respond. "Ok, fine, I'll do this your way, as I said, I'm just happy to be here with you, so I can wait."

"Wait for what, sir?" Dani asked.

"Wait forever, if that's what it takes," Harper stressed, as she continued to walk him back to his quarters.

They'd walked another few meters when Harper suddenly brought his hand to his head, as a sharp pain hit him. "Argh," he exclaimed as he stopped for a moment.

"Are you ok, sir?" Dani asked, and she took some of Harper's weight, as he began to look a little unsteady. "Sir?"

Harper tensed for a moment, and then took some deep breaths. "I'm good," he offered finally, and took a moment to get his bearings.

"Sir," Dani spoke with urgency. "Your nose, it's bleeding," she said and Harper felt a tissue being put to his nose. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Actually," Harper grimaced, feeling dizzy suddenly, and he stumbled in Dani's hold. "Attack of the killer headache now playing inside my head," he complained.

"Sit down for a moment," Dani encouraged him down to the ground, and he didn't object as the world felt as though it was spinning now, without sight the feeling was more a nauseous one. "Wait here," she said and soon left his side.

Harper took some deep breaths, panicked now by the sudden onslaught of the headache that now partially crippled him with pain. Then he saw something, his eyes suddenly focused and for a split second he saw the paved ground he was sitting on. The shock caused Harper to stop breathing for a moment, and he brought his hand to his eyes to cover them, before shakily he removed them and again he caught sight for a split second of his surroundings. This time the gardens, and the bright sunshine that hurt his eyes in the flash he saw, and the shock caused him to feel dizzy again, falling backwards becoming light headed and he felt his body relax, as his upper body fell ungracefully upon the paved ground.

He remained awake, but unmoving as he lay on the ground and rolled onto his back. Both hands now covered his face, and he felt the tears that had escaped his sore eyes. Harper was trying to determine the problem, he had a killer headache, his eyes stung and he felt sick and light headed.

"Sir, I have help, they will take you back to your quarters," Dani's voice spoke hurriedly upon her return.

Harper felt himself being lifted and then placed on a trolley, and with some urgency he was taken back to his quarters.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

Part 19

Beka felt like she was strangely violating a trust, as the files Harper had created were opening before her eyes. He had wanted the security of Beka seeing these files, if she needed to, and in an emergency, but still it felt strange. As Beka waited for all the information to sort itself out, she wondered why Harper had been so specific with his authorisation for her to be able to access them.

As far as she knew, his research had been simply finding a possible solution to his blindness, but as she considered it more, her natural suspicion grew.

"Andromeda, activate privacy mode," Beka ordered. "Including the information I'm about to access," she added as a precaution, and heard Rommie acknowledge her request.

Harper trusted her, of that Beka had no doubt, so if he was trusting her with this information then she began to doubt that it was just a simple search query on eye doctors. Maybe it was nothing, and now it was irrelevant, she knew Harper was in a strange place mentally when he was doing this research, maybe he only truly trusted Beka at that time, and it seemed a natural request to make.

Finally the information was ready, and Beka began to investigate, whilst quietly cursing Harper for the amount of information his session had gathered.

"Not everyone is equipped to handle this amount of information, Seamus," Beka quietly seethed, the number of files would take her hours to sift through. Beka took a deep breath, and focused. "Give me the information that deals with doctors on Sinti," she then decided to cut to the chase rather than seek answers in every page that flashed up.

Ten results appeared before her and Beka took those files and began to read the contents. The third page had what she was looking for and she beamed, as she downloaded the page to a data chip.

"Doctor Richter," Beka remembered his name now, as she looked at the photograph the file showed her. "Where in the universe are you now?" she then asked, planning to investigate later.

There were still plenty of files left, and Beka knew that meant that eye doctors weren't the only thing Harper had investigated. She took a moment to consider her next move, and looked upwards for inspiration.

"Sort through the remaining files and give me a breakdown of repeated topics, I want to know the areas that Harper was researching," Beka ordered and waited for the simple command to go through its paces, knowing a breakdown would give her some clue to Harper's mindset when he conducted this research.

The console beeped and Beka focused on the results, and she both surprised and not so surprised by the results. Top of the list was Gerentex, and then there was Yussuf's name, followed by Dani. Beka could guess why Harper was investigating Gerentex's activities, after he had tried to kill him by slitting his wrists, but Yussuf was a little surprising, she wasn't surprised by Dani but the fact Harper had investigated Yussuf more, it just didn't add up.

Beka activated the results for Yussuf and stared at the first page for a moment. The information Harper had research was Yussuf's fleet, and the general engineering requirements that Yussuf had. Then there was information on the engineer's that Yussuf had employed in his pride, to work on those ships.

Beka sat back, and considered the information. "Harper was finding out the criteria of finding work with Yussuf?" she spoke in a worried whisper.

Sitting forward again, Beka checked through more of the results but there was no explanation for these searches, until another thought struck her. "Harper was looking for work with Yussuf?" she whispered with disbelief. "No way, there has to be another reasons, I mean I know he missed Dani, but," Beka paused, as she checked more of the results and saw a picture of Dani.

It had been a long time since she had seen a picture of Dani, and she was caught for a moment remembering what Harper had said, as another memory returned, she was holding a distraught Harper in her arms who had just confessed how much he missed Dani. Her eyes returned to the Yussuf search results, and she was forced to realise that Harper could have been seriously considering his options.

"This is ridiculous," Beka stood up and paced the room to clear her thoughts. "He was blind, he needed this ship and the Maru, how was he planning on achieving this? Yussuf hate's humans like him, and there's no way he'd give work to a blind crippled kludge," she frowned with the harshness of her words, and rubbed her face, before returning to the console knowing she was missing something.

Two beeps sounded, indicating a standard code to tell Beka that Andromeda was trying to reach her through the privacy mode.

"Close all files, and remove privacy," Beka ordered. "What is it Rommie?"

"Beka, I am picking up a frequency on one or more of the files you are working with," Rommie informed her. "I am unable to determine the source or the relevance."

"They've been hacked?" Beka questioned.

"They were hacked," Rommie corrected. "The frequency suggests that at the time of the research the files Harper was accessing were either being traced by a third party or Harper was hacking into systems that were already being hacked into, and he was silently discovered," Rommie stated.

"So I'm guessing whoever discovered Harper's hacking, wouldn't have made a big deal out of it at the time because either they were observing what he was doing to later use against him, or they too were hacking into the same system Harper was," Beka suggested.

"Correct, Harper wouldn't have known at the time, as the frequency is the same as my matrix output, but now the files have been reactivated, I can pick out the subtle differences, either way, the files Harper was accessing were being monitored and his research was observed by a third party."

"Which files?" Beka asked.

"All I know is that you haven't accessed them all yet, and I am unable to determine the exact files," Rommie informed her, unable to be more specific with the security in place around them.

"Thanks, I'll get on it and try to work it out," Beka stated.

"Reinitiating privacy mode," Rommie informed her and disappeared from the view screen.

"Return files," Beka ordered and rested her head in both hands, as she waited for the files to appear. "Show me the files that have the unusual amounts of trace data attached to them," she frowned.

Files began to appear and Beka finally sat up to take notice, the answer she was looking for became much clearer in that instant.

"Oh man, well that bit makes sense now," Beka frowned. "This stuff in the wrong hands spells trouble, just by someone knowing Harper was looking at this stuff, now I just have to figure out which wrong hands intercepted this," she sighed, and rubbed her face tiredly. "Crap, Harper didn't I always warn you about hacking, don't you dare accuse me of being your mother again," she seethed, but her concern soon returned, as she closed her console and headed back to the Maru.

* * *

Harper stood by the window, his arms crossed as he tried to focus on the landscape outside, but things remained blurred. He caught his own nervousness and tried to calm his breathing, closing his eyes momentarily. An hour ago he had woken, and he remembered what had happened, the panic and the uncertainty after the killer headache consumed him. He was supposed to be in bed, resting, and he was still dressed for bed not having the energy to fully get up, as his thoughts drifted some more.

Deep down he knew something was wrong, and he no longer had the security blanket of, Harper paused as his mind drew a blank for a moment, before he remembered, Trance and the Andromeda. How could he forget, Harper asked himself blaming his own nerves, wanting to laugh but his fear stopped him.

Beka, he suddenly thought, as if his memory had been jogged. He needed to contact her, let her know he was ok, and he remembered that she was alone, when they had promised to stick together. Urgency now fuelled him as he felt the wall to guide him around the room.

"Dani?" Harper called out.

The door opened and Dani walked in. "Sir?"

Harper rolled his eyes at her continued insistence of protocol. "I need to contact my friend; I need access to a communications panel."

"I'm sorry but these quarters are not linked to the main network," Dani returned.

"Then take me someplace that is, I can make calls, right?" Harper stated a little flustered.

"The doctors instructed you to rest, and stay in bed," Dani reminded him. "I'm sorry but my orders are to ensure you do this, and to take care of you."

"Am I a guest or a prisoner?" Harper asked pointedly.

"You are sick," Dani stood her ground.

"I'm fine!" Harper snapped. "Now, I want to make a call and you will obey," Harper stopped himself, caught by his own tone and words and the silence that followed.

"Sir?" Dani prompted in an even voice.

Harper calmed himself down before speaking. "I'm sorry, Dani, I didn't mean to speak to you like that, it's just I really need to make a call."

"I am not able to authorise that, sir," Dani spoke calmly. "I could see about gaining permission, and getting you the equipment you would need."

"Please?" Harper sounded appreciative now.

"Will you return to bed and rest?" Dani asked, and Harper willingly let her lead him to his bed. "I'll go speak to my superiors, and then I'll bring you some lunch."

"Did you happen to catch any of what those doctors think is wrong with me?" Harper asked as he climbed back under the covers.

"You're experiencing fits of some kind, but they don't know what, or why," Dani offered. "They think it's related to your eyes, and it was that doctor we're holding prisoner that treated you, right?" Dani asked, as Harper settled and she checked his temperature by placing her hand on his forehead.

"Yeah, whatever he did has caused these fits," Harper complained. "I should never have let him near me."

To Harper's surprise he felt then Dani's hand brush the side of his face and run through his hair tenderly. "We'll do what we can to help you," Dani simply said and before Harper could respond she was already through the door, leaving him alone once again.

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

Part 20

"Our guest wishes to communicate with a friend," Dani spoke up, and before her loomed the large desk of Yussuf.

"Does he now, did he say who?" Yussuf turned to face Dani.

"No, sir," Dani returned, her hands nervously fidgeting behind her back. There was a time when she felt safe and comfortable in Yussuf's presence, but those days had long gone, now he seemed to find any excuse to despise her, beat her and then giving her a kludge to look after seemed to only support the fact he no longer liked her.

"How is our guest?" his clipped tones asked.

"He is better now," Dani responded, her voice tense. "The doctor has ordered complete bed rest for the next forty-eight hours to be sure he will be ok."

Dani didn't miss the flash of frustration from Yussuf, before he looked at her again. "Dani, do you remember Seamus Harper at all?"

"Just one thing," Dani answered, avoiding eye contact as she spoke. "I remember him saving me, when I couldn't breath."

"Are you pleased to see him?" he asked, and she noticed Yussuf's tone soften to one she once knew, when he accepted her.

Dani looked at Yussuf for a moment, a little confused by the change in tone, and answered with hesitation. "I'm not sure I follow, I have no feelings either way," Dani shrugged, fearful inside of where this was going, remembering the things that Seamus Harper had told her about their supposed friendship previously.

"I brought him here for you," Yussuf got to his feet and walked around his desk to face Dani, who tried not to flinch as he approached. "Dani, I have been tough on you lately, I felt you needed to learn that although I love you dearly, you can not treat me as a fool, I know you let Seamus Harper escape that night, I couldn't let that go unpunished," Yussuf explained, showing some care in his expression.

"I don't remember," Dani simply said, her eyes watching Yussuf as he got closer.

"It's all in the past now, you probably don't remember due to that unfortunate accident you had," Yussuf spoke knowingly, as his hand now gently cupped her face to make her look up at him. "I want you to be happy, Dani, and I have to start being realistic, me and you, Nietzschean and kludge, for my prides sake I have to let you go, no matter how much I find you a joy to spend time with, it's time I gave you something that you deserve for the loyalty you have shown me over the years," Yussuf smiled.

"Seamus Harper?" Dani questioned unsure.

"He loves you, Dani, and I know he will protect you with his life and that's what you deserve, that is my gift to you," Yussuf explained. "I'm sorry if I have hurt you, or done anything to make you think less of me lately, and I hope this gesture will show you that I am willing to give you another chance, that I too love you dearly, and only want the best for you."

Dani looked uneasy stood before Yussuf. "Can I call you Yussuf again?"

Yussuf smiled, and embraced his young friend. "Of course, consider yourself back in the fold my beautiful girl, I have missed you and never enjoyed those times I was punishing you."

Dani happily hugged her mentor back; simply glad to know her ordeal of being in Yussuf's bad books was over, she felt relieved and lifted of a burden she hadn't realised she had been carrying. "I'm glad that I have been allowed back."

"There was never any doubt," Yussuf held her tightly, his hand stroking her hair. "You will always be my special girl," he spoke tenderly.

Pulling away, Dani meekly smiled and looked at Yussuf with care. "Can I ask a question?"

"Go ahead," Yussuf declared brightly, gone was all the hostility he had shown for nearly three months.

"Did you only bring Seamus Harper here as a gift for me?"

Yussuf briefly smiled, and returned to his desk before answering. Sitting down in the large dominating chair he put his hands on the desk. "I may require his services in a couple of matters, nothing important though, or anything that will take him away from you."

"I see," Dani smiled in reply, she hadn't expected it to be a simple gift to her, and she knew there would be other reasons, as Yussuf never did the simple thing.

"Dani, I know you were happy with this human, and I know you do not remember those times," Yussuf spoke with care. "But he's a good man, for a human, and has proved to me, like yourself that he can be trusted to keep his word, if I ask him to take care of you, I know he will," Yussuf explained. "He saved my life, do you remember that?"

"No," Dani seemed surprised, but encouraged also.

"I owe him something, and he needed sanctuary, there's an unsettled climate outside of these palace walls so for the short term neither you nor him will be leaving, it'll be for your own protection," Yussuf stated. "So use the time well," he then suggested.

"I will," Dani smiled. "Am I still assigned to him as my duty?"

"You are off duty for now, Dani, your time can be used how you see fit," Yussuf confirmed. "Another will be assigned to assist the human in his everyday needs."

"Very well, thank you, sir," Dani smiled. "And can Seamus communicate with his friend?"

"No, tell him that is not possible at this time," Yussuf stated, without looking up from some papers he now read.

"I will," Dani answered, a little confused but not willing to question the decision, before she left the room.

* * *

"Look, I'm going to search for him whether you're coming or not," Beka stated, distracted as she prepped the Maru. "If you need to keep finding yourself three hundred or so years after you left the place, fine, but I don't have time to wait, Harper needs me."

Beka cut off the communication, only for Dylan Hunt to reappear a few seconds later on the small screen.

"Beka, I just want you to let me know what's going on, Trance and Rhade tell me you've discovered something about Harper, but you're not telling them," Dylan stated firmly.

"I really can't discuss it," Beka stressed, then relaxed as she sat back in the pilot's chair. "I just ask for a little support, that's all, it's not like you have always told us of your plans, Dylan."

"How sensitive is the information you know?" Dylan calmly asked from Tarn Vedra.

Beka sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "The actual information on its own is worthless, but together, and in the wrong hands," she suggested with a frown.

"Where are you heading?" Dylan then asked.

"First off, the Zetac Drift, it's the last known sighting of Gerentex," Beka revealed. "I need to determine who hacked into Harper's hacking," she stated.

"And he's the obvious choice?" Dylan asked.

"I think so, at the time he was already on Harper's case," Beka stated, still checking the Maru's systems. "I wouldn't put it past that rat to try and gain some advantage, and he did somehow know that Harper was seeing Dr Richter about his eyes, it could point to eavesdropping on Harper's research on the doctor, even though Richter's files that Harper researched do not carry the trace signature, it's still a possibility."

"It's a good place to start," Dylan agreed. "I sense more urgency from you though, Beka," he then added knowingly.

"Right now trouble is brewing around the Yussuf Empire," Beka then explained with a heavy sigh. "As far as I can tell there are three main factions ready to explode, Yussuf's pride and followers, the newly formed 'Resisters', with loyal supporters such as our old friend Colin, and a new faction, led by a Nietzschean brother and sister, Rico and Darla, apparently they are ex-associates of Yussuf, who himself is holding their older brother on a sentence of death," Beka finished.

"And I'm guessing Harper is bang smack in the middle of this?" Dylan frowned now.

"Yussuf has history with Harper because he stupidly saved the tyrant's life and then there's the whole escaped as his slave thing," Beka offered. "The Resisters have their own agenda on Harper, also for saving Yussuf's life and messing up their supposed well oiled plan," she looked tired now, as she continued. "And this brother and sister duo, some of the research Harper was looking at confirmed that they are naming him as one reason their brother is facing death, I don't know exactly why, but he's named," Beka looked away with concern evident in her expression.

"All three of them have something on Harper, it's now a case of figuring out who has the biggest grudge," Dylan confirmed. "Beka, give me half an hour, I'm coming with you," he then stated firmly.

"You believe Harper is alive now?" Beka checked with some doubt in her tone.

"You asked for my support, Beka, and you've convinced me of your reason," Dylan stated before signing off.

Beka stared at the now blank screen. "Harper is alive, Dylan, whether you like it or not, he's worth saving again," she spoke with bitterness as she got to her feet to complete her final checks.

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

Part 21

Dani considered what Yussuf had told her about Harper's presence at the palace, as she approached the quarters where his gift to her was staying. It felt strange to her to think another human was her gift, but she knew that she didn't want to own him in that sense. The idea of getting to know the strange man had started to appeal, and she already knew that he loved her, after Seamus had told her so quite convincingly.

She briefly wondered about what Seamus had told her, he had said they were good friends previously, and a part of her could believe that now that she was able to consider it without fear. His enthusiasm was so infectious that she was happy now that her duty wouldn't get in the way, or stop her from returning his attentions if she wanted to.

Dani reached the door and heard voices on the other side, so she paused to listen, knowing Seamus was expecting the doctors to check up on his progress after some rest. Her limited medical knowledge couldn't help Seamus, she knew little about how the brain worked, but her natural interest in medicine caught her curiosity so she took the moment to hear them at work.

They were speaking quietly however, and to Dani's frustration she knew she would have to make herself known to them if she was to learn anything, so she activated manual control on the door so she could quietly slip into the room, hopefully without disturbing the doctors whilst they worked. The moment she stepped into the room the three doctors all glared at her, but said nothing, as she bowed her head, knowing they weren't to know she was no longer assigned to Harper as a simple slave, her powers were back she inwardly smiled.

She simply wanted to see them at work, she had forgotten why the previous doctor had left, and she had found it harder to work with these doctors, more so due to Yussuf's bad treatment of her, after she had lost a lot of privileges with her demotion, but she hoped that would change now and things would return to normal for her.

She watched now, as the doctors resumed their work and saw that Harper was relaxed on the bed, his eyes closed. The doctor closest to Seamus, who she knew as Carvenello, was holding his hand close to the human's face, whilst the other two, Raul and Tuplin, observed him.

"You're seeing your past," Carvenello spoke evenly, and with softness. "Take those images and dismiss those thoughts, push them from your mind and forget them."

Dani moved a little way forward, partially horrified by what she thought she had heard and was seeing, but she said nothing as they continued.

"You will not question why you no longer remember your past," Carvenello spoke with calm. "You will accept your life now, you will stay with Dani, you want to be with Dani, amongst the Yussuf Pride, and you will be loyal to Yussuf, you know that you saved his life with good reason."

Dani stared wide eyed at the proceedings, before the doctors moved away and then looked at her.

"What's going on?" Dani asked. "I thought you were medical doctors, checking up on his physical health?" she added.

"Ain't your place to ask, slave," Carvenello returned.

"Brainwashing a human to like me make it's my place," Dani returned sharply, quickly rediscovering her tongue and cheek, and realising how much she had missed it. "Oh and check the news, uber," Dani offered a twisted smirk, one that alone announced her return to Yussuf's fold. "Now tell me before I tell Yussuf you spoke to me in a tone I didn't appreciate."

Carvenello looked at his fellow doctors, and both seemed to indicate uncertainty as Raul checked his communicator that would confirm pretty quickly any new orders from Yussuf.

"She speaks the truth, Dani is back with us," Raul confirmed.

With a frown, Carvenello began to explain, though it was clear he didn't want to. "We're trying a new method of reintegration, call it a trial."

"On this guy?" Dani questioned towards Harper. "Is this why he's been having those fits?" she immediately accused.

"No, totally unrelated," Tuplin now spoke up. "We believe the fits have been caused by the patient having some recent trauma to the brain, but we're unsure exactly what, in addition to that we've determined that the treatment that Doctor Richter performed on his eyes was ill advised, and should never have been started so soon after the trauma to the brain."

"Richter has confirmed to us that he did no preliminary tests before operating on this human, a major oversight in the circumstances," Raul spoke with arrogance, as he walked around Harper's bed. "His brain simply was not prepared for the procedure and is now in conflict with itself over what the treatment has achieved, notably some return of his sight, and it can not always handle the signals," he added, obviously trying to lose Dani with his explanation.

"So you messing with his head, brainwashing him, that isn't a problem either, it won't add to his problems?" Dani asked, with a sarcastic tone evident.

"We're trying to help him," Carvenello stated.

"I have been speaking with Doctor Richter at great length," Raul spoke up again. "The only option we have is to complete the work that he started on restoring his sight in the next day or so, to return balance and help ease the pressure his brain is obviously under, or things will never settle down," he stressed. "With the work we are doing to help the human, we're hoping the two combined treatments will end the fits and make his life better."

Dani tried to keep up, but their words had moved above her understanding now, and she could only nod her head to agree, unable to object. "I see," she offered. "He'll be ok though?" she asked. "I mean you are just brainwashing him right, to forget himself so that he stays, right?"

"It's going to be standard procedure soon enough for all those who come into Yussuf's employ, we needed the first subject, and Yussuf volunteered your friend, as your gift Seamus Harper was the best candidate for the first test," Raul explained with a hidden smile, that seemed to taunt Dani.

"What was the procedure before?" Dani found herself asking.

"We shouldn't discuss our predecessors work," Tuplin was quick to dismiss. "Now we have finished our work here, we should be going, we have work to do," he smiled. "We need to prepare for the next phase of this kludge's treatment," he said with a hint of disgust in his voice.

"His name is Seamus Harper," Dani corrected the doctor quickly.

"As you wish," Tuplin sneered, and Dani didn't respond.

Simply watching, as the three men then left the guest quarters, Dani moved to Harper's side. She stood and observed him for a moment before reaching out and brushing the side of his face as he slept now.

"I wish I could remember what we shared before, because I feel something but I fear its sadness, not joy," Dani spoke sadly, then moved away to allow him to sleep.

* * *

"Beka, we need to talk," Dylan spoke up as Beka powered down the Maru, which was now docked at the Zetac drift.

"You're not seeing the files," Beka stressed, as she unbuckled herself from the pilot seat restraints, and stood up.

"I would prefer to know the full situation," Dylan objected.

"My mission Dylan," Beka reminded him, as she brushed past him to walk towards the airlock.

"It was your mission that got Harper into trouble with Yussuf in the first place," Dylan returned sharply, losing patience with Beka's stubbornness in sharing information.

Beka stopped and turned to face Dylan. "You're blaming me?"

"No, Beka, I'm making a point," Dylan stood his ground, as he approached. "Maybe this time you won't go headfirst into your plan without first considering, and discussing it with your fellow officers."

"You're talking crap, just so I will show you those files, no way, Dylan," Beka brushed aside his comments. "Harper trusted me with those files, he only gave me permission to view them, and I'm going to respect his wishes on this."

"We don't even know if he's still alive," Dylan argued.

"Why are you here?" Beka then asked. "Why are you following me chasing a supposed dead guy that you don't even care about?"

Dylan took a deep breath and looked upwards, showing annoyance. "I spent nine months, Beka, nine months looking for you, Rommie and Harper on Seefra, so tell me again about that not caring statement."

"Because you needed us, Dylan, that's why you looked not because you cared," Beka snapped. "You know I'm sick of being treated like I'm an idiot, sure I have some memory loss, but I was knocked unconscious, probably more than once in that one week you were off gallivanting in some universe I've never heard of," she stressed. "And I have the dents in my skull to prove it!" she seethed angrily. "But I know I was not imagining Harper on board this ship, with Doctor Richter switching sides to join Gerentex, knocking me out with god knows what, whilst they were trying to make him talk, pulling his teeth and," Beka was soon interrupted.

"Pull up, Beka, Gerentex was on board, and the Doctor switched sides, why didn't you mention this earlier?" Dylan asked pointedly.

"I thought I had," Beka checked, suddenly unsure.

"You told us Doctor Richter was on board, but nothing about Gerentex," Dylan stated.

"They have Harper," Beka stressed with panic now lacing her words. "They knocked me out, probably rendezvoused with another ship, they must have docked the Maru somehow and that's how they got away, then stolen my supplies and all my power, and then left me adrift, whilst they took Harper, probably claiming the bounty," she spoke in barely a whisper now, the shock of her own conclusion causing her panic to rise rapidly.

"Which means we should not go head first into knocking on Gerentex's door," Dylan pointed out. "We could be endangering Harper's life."

Beka looked sharply up at Dylan, her eyes watering. "Now do you believe me?"

"You're giving me more reason to, just by talking to me," Dylan made his point.

Beka took a deep breath. "Let's form a plan, we need to nail Gerentex."

Dylan offered an arm of support around Beka as he walked her through to where Trance and Rhade were keeping a respectful distance, and they began planning their next move.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

Part 22

Harper felt the cold damp cloth against his face, and wearily opened his eyes feeling more relaxed than he ever remembered. Unable to focus, Harper could make out someone beside him, and he tried to see who it was.

"It's me, Dani," Dani finally answered, lightly taking his hand. "I'm told you've been asleep for nearly ten hours."

"I have?" Harper questioned unsure, and he noticed a different tone in Dani's voice, for the first time since he'd been here she seemed happy to be with him, like how he remembered her.

"I don't know, but you look rested," Dani offered unsure.

"How can you know but not know?" Harper asked with confusion, and a brief smile.

"Short term memory issues, remember?" Dani said with amusement, a brief laugh followed.

"Of course, how did I forget that?" Harper smirked, and didn't appear too concerned as he pushed himself up to a sitting position, then noticed that Dani was sat on his bed, by her close proximity to him. "Are you allowed to sit on my bed like that, considering the arrangement?" he asked.

"I'm no longer assigned to you," Dani returned brightly.

"You're not?" Harper asked, with obvious sadness.

"Got the confirmation this morning, so I guess I was told yesterday," Dani stated casually. "Spoke to Yussuf a few minutes ago, he said he explained everything more clearly to me yesterday but basically wants us to be friends," she added a little cautiously. "He said I should be pleased that he was able to bring you here, after he rescued you."

"I'm pleased he did bring me here, I've missed this, I was starting to worry that you wouldn't give me another chance," Harper remarked, and then brought his hand up to where he thought Dani's face was, and her hand intercepted his to guide him the rest of the way. "I'm sure your problem, the short term memory thing, I'm sure it went away," Harper then spoke with confusion.

"Don't be silly, I have brain damage, it can't be fixed," Dani corrected him with amusement, as his hand lightly touched her face. "Oh and that reminds me, something can be fixed, the doctors are going to complete the treatment to return you sight today," Dani beamed. "Isn't that great?"

Harper tried to share her joy, but he was still distracted by something, but he didn't know what. Then another thought struck him, as he sat up some more and removed his hand from Dani's face. "How long have I been blind?"

"I don't know," Dani answered truthfully.

"I don't know either, surely for it to be fixed it must have worked at some point?" Harper questioned.

"I remember when you could see, that one memory I have of you saving me," Dani offered.

"Why have I forgotten? I can't even remember how it happened," he added, now concerned.

"Maybe you didn't want to remember?" Dani suggested. "Anyway, Yussuf is encouraging our friendship, I think that's why I'm no longer assigned to serve you, so, we don't have to worry."

"Were we worried?" Harper asked with a crooked smile.

"You were worried," Dani offered with her own smile. "You said you were, that I wouldn't give you a chance, well now, I'm going to give you a chance."

"For me, or for Yussuf," Harper countered with seriousness now, he still had an uneasy feeling.

Dani frowned. "I don't know," she admitted, and seemed about to back off when Harper stopped her from moving.

"I said that I was just happy being here with you," Harper explained softly. "Nothing has changed in that respect, so while you work it out, I'll be right here," he offered. "And maybe the fog in my own mind will clear too," he added with a smirk.

"That sounds good," Dani agreed.

"Yeah," Harper tried to share her enthusiasm, but deep down he still had mixed feelings, as the doors to the quarters opened and a medical team came in.

"Time to go," Dani figured, and squeezed Harper's hand, as he stared at the fuzzy image he saw of her.

"Do you remember me at all now?" Harper then asked, needing to know.

"Not exactly, no," Dani responded honestly. "I just have a chance to get to know you now, if that's what you want?"

"A chance is good, I'm willing to take that chance on you, Dani," Harper smiled, but behind the smile he was still a little concerned about something, a nagging feeling inside that was telling him to remember something but he couldn't think what.

With gentle encouragement from the medical team, Harper was led from his room to the infirmary, with Dani by his side.

* * *

The drift's central square was vibrant with life, but as Beka approached her crewmates there was not a smile amongst them. They hadn't wanted to believe it, but there was no denying the truth.

"Gerentex still dead?" Rhade asked flippantly, and then looked away as Beka's glare confirmed his words.

"I, erm, I just got it confirmed," Beka then said a little hesitantly. "A couple of light years from here Gerentex was ambushed by Nietzscheans," Beka relayed what she had found out. "His ship was destroyed, and his dead body was the only thing they found on what was left of his ship floating in space, they," Beka frowned. "They showed me pictures, the rat was a pest, but after everything he didn't deserve that, no one does."

Trance reached a hand out and comforted Beka, as Dylan moved forward. "We need another lead, do you have anything?" he asked softly, aware of Beka's distress and feeling she needed a distraction.

Beka looked up and sighed. "Gerentex was going to be the best lead, now I don't know what to suggest," she looked down.

"What about your friend Colin?" Rhade suggested.

Beka looked up, and frowned. "I haven't spoken to him since he left the Andromeda," Beka returned.

"He might know something," Dylan supported. "He's a part of what's going on at the moment and if we are going to find Harper, then we need to be where the action is," Dylan stated with hope.

Beka looked at him. "When did this become more a search for Harper and less me trying to prove Harper was still alive to be found?" she queried with confusion.

"You had me eighty-percent convinced there was someone to find, this has confirmed it," Dylan spoke and held up a chip, that he placed in his handheld device.

Beka looked at the image of Harper that appeared, and then at Dylan. "A notice of the bounty on Harper's head?" she asked, still confused.

"The date it was re-issued was the day before yesterday," Dylan pointed out. "It states that he was last seen on this very drift three days ago."

"What?" Beka snatched the device from Dylan and read the information for herself. "I was right," she smiled brightly. "Harper is still alive, he was with me on the Maru, I'm not crazy!" she exclaimed with joy.

"Beka," Trance's voice brought her back to the reality, sensing a problem. "He was last seen on this drift with Gerentex, who is now dead."

Beka nodded her head, knowing the situation. "But there were no other bodies on that ship."

"Harper had this bounty on his head, we should find out if it's been claimed," Dylan solemnly spoke, trying not to fear the worse.

"And we need to find out who has or had the bounty on his head," Rhade pointed out. "The notice claims identity of the issuer revealed only on a need to know basis, which I assume is proof you have Harper."

Beka frowned. "We should get going, I'll try to contact Colin, you guys can find out what you can about this bounty, meet on the Maru for departure in an hour," she ordered, and no one objected as Dylan left with Rhade, and Trance walked beside her to return to the Maru.

* * *

Harper awoke to darkness and immediately tensed with panic, taking a sharp intake of breath feeling numbed, and unsure.

"Seamus, it's ok, I'm here," Dani's voice comforted him.

"I can't see," Harper managed and brought his hands to his face, feeling something over his eyes. "What's covering my eyes?"

"It's a bandage, you've got to keep it on for a couple of days whilst the work they performed on your eyes heals and settles down," Dani assured him. "Don't worry I'll take care of you," she added with care.

"My head feels like it full of dough," Harper frowned, calming down as he attempted to relax.

"You're on heavy medication, they wanted to ensure your fits would not hinder your recovery," Dani explained. "I asked the doctors a lot of questions, made sure they gave me good answers."

"Thanks," Harper spoke genuinely, although the uneasy feeling was still there in his gut and he still wasn't sure why.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Dani then asked.

"It's ok for me to get up?" Harper checked, with some surprise.

"The doctors said you could, that light exercise wouldn't be a problem," Dani explained. "We could resume our walk through the gardens, you never saw the lake, I mean you never reached the lake."

Harper smirked. "You don't have to correct yourself, it's not like I haven't heard that slip of the tongue a thousand times already, I know what you meant," he offered with a smile.

"Well soon it won't be a slip of the tongue, the operation went according to plan," Dani enthused. "You should have sight again over the next week or so."

"Not immediately?" Harper asked.

"You're eyes will take a while to adjust, things will still be fuzzy when the bandages are removed but you will see a rapid improvement until full sight returns," Dani answered confidently, and it was clear she had asked a lot of questioned, Harper realised.

As Dani helped Harper from his bed, they heard raised voices outside of the room and paused for a moment to try and determine the source. Suddenly the doors opened and in a flurry of movement Harper heard people charging in.

"What's going on?" Harper demanded towards Dani, his instincts snapping to alert.

"You two follow us," a loud voice demanded.

"Iwan, what's going on?" Dani asked, as she quickly encouraged Harper to walk with her.

"Intruders, all over the palace," Iwan explained to Dani. "Yussuf has requested that I escort you to one of the bunkers, from there we will lead you to his space port for evacuation."

"Evacuation?" Harper spluttered, hating being in the dark again. "How serious is this?"

"Serious enough for Yussuf to order evacuation, you two included, now move," Iwan ordered.

They hurried along, and Harper realised he was only wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms, as the cold stone clad floor froze his feet and sent a chill through him, as he walked. Seeming to sense this, from his side Dani demanded that one of the guards escorting them gave up his jacket, and Harper didn't complain as the heavy garment was soon wrapped around him.

Suddenly there was gunfire heard ahead of them and the whole group stopped and Harper felt himself pushed against the wall. Harper felt more than useless as his bandaged eyes prevented him even having a slightest idea of their location, he thought he'd be use to not seeing, but it had been surprising how quickly he had grown accustomed to the blurred and light filled landscape, returning to darkness was hard to take.

Since he had left his bed, Dani had remained by his side, keeping a protective arm around his waist and he was grateful for that, as the gunshots got closer and his uncertainty rose, wishing he could do more, as his imagination tried to fill in the blanks possibly making things worse.

"We're blocked off from the bunker, we need find another way around," Iwan was heard to say. "Our orders were to protect these two, and get them to safety, so think," he ordered his men, but there were little options being offered.

"Where's Yussuf, is he ok?" Dani asked with concern.

"We do not know, orders were flying about, we assume like you he is trying to reach the sanctuary of the bunker," Iwan stated, but sounded concerned now, as his control of the situation seemed to waver. "Let's move away from this area at least," he then decided and Harper felt himself being ushered in a new direction.

An explosion hit an area in close proximity to them and Harper was grabbed by Dani as they barely managed to stay standing, but he heard a few of the guards stumble to the floor in agony.

"All of you freeze!" a new voice then yelled, as if speaking through a mask. "This palace is being claimed in the name of the Resisters and you are now our prisoners!"

"What's going on?" Harper whispered to Dani.

"We're being separated," Dani returned with fear.

"Me and you?" Harper checked in panicked tones, as Dani moved him once more, all he could hear now was what he assumed were Resisters kicking the guards.

"No, the guards and us two, we're being separated," Dani stressed in a hushed voice, before Harper felt himself being pushed by a new person, and with Dani, to one side.

"Tell them we have the final two, the palace is secured," the masked man announced, and Harper then found his hands being roughly tied behind his back, before being pushed forward with Dani, as the intruders prisoners.

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

Part 23

The Maru exited the slip point with ease, and Beka immediately took a scan of the surrounding space. Behind her Dylan also checked the read outs and they both confirmed they had reached their destination.

"Beka, I want to come with you when you meet Colin," Dylan spoke up.

"I was waiting for this," Beka frowned.

Dylan tried to sense Beka's mood, before deciding to continue. "It makes sense, the bounty has not been claimed, so we still do not know the lay of the land, and I won't let you go and see him alone, if you prefer you can take Rhade, but you are not going alone."

Beka twisted around in her seat, a crooked smile on her face. "I was waiting for you to volunteer to accompany me, because I want you to," she assured him with a quick smile. "I don't like this situation any more than you do, and we don't know that it's not Colin's little gang of Resisters who have Harper, or even set the bounty on him."

"Agreed," Dylan nodded his head. "At this time it could be any of the three factions, Yussuf, Rico or the Resister who have him."

Beka's screen suddenly came alive as Rhade's face appeared, from the serving area of the ship. "Are you guys checking out this sub space transmission being broadcast?"

"No, why?" Beka asked.

"Looks like we've found Harper," Rhade remarked. "Who in turn, has found trouble, check it out," Rhade's face disappeared and in its place a shot of the Resisters badge of unity was flashing on the screen, before it cut to one of the leaders.

'We have been successful, the Resisters have taken control of the seat of power, Yussuf and his pride have fallen to our attack,' the middle aged man declared with defiance. 'Today we all win; today we see victory, today the Resisters will start to make a difference.'

The picture then changed to a chamber within Yussuf's Palace, and Beka recognised the general decoration that she had seen inside the place during her imprisonment there. It was a large room, something close to a banqueting hall, and as the picture zoomed in, Beka saw a row of people seemingly on their knees, prisoners of the Resisters, but on closer inspection their hands were tied and they were partially hanging from a beam above them, as their knees hovered slightly above the floor, and only their feet made contact with the ground.

Yussuf came into shot, looking angry and ready to strike anyone who got close enough but in no position to do so. The camera then panned along the line, Beka saw how the prisoners had been stripped of any wealth or identity. They were wearing torn and cheap looking attire now, and clearly not what they were used to, with the men only wearing shorts, and the women barely wearing a long vest to keep their modesty in check. Various wives and family members were being shown now, then immediate staff and the important members of Yussuf's army, then finally the camera focused on Dani and Beka took a deep breath, next to Dani she recognised Harper.

"Harper," Beka spoke with concern. "What the hell is he doing in that line up? Harper is not a part of that pride and he's done nothing against this sector!" she stressed. "And why are his eyes covered, what have they done to him?"

"I don't know, it must be in relation to his actions in saving Yussuf's life, denying the Resisters earlier plan," Dylan admitted. "It looks to me like they are simply trophies, on display to humiliate the Yussuf pride I can't see any evidence of beatings."

"Yet," Beka sneered. "We have to do something."

"Colin will know already why you have contacted him, he will make the connection," Dylan pointed out.

"What do you suggest?"

"Normally I would suggest talking, and rationalisation," Dylan shrugged. "But something tells me that won't work here, Beka, Yussuf has ruled this sector with an iron fist, he is a tyrant and normally we'd support this kind of uprising."

"We wouldn't support this, this is wrong," Beka gestured to the screen.

"If Harper wasn't involved wouldn't we, in some small way, be pleased that the people have finally risen up and defeated the Yussuf pride, their common enemy? Displayed their tyrant in this manner?" Dylan suggested. "And taken some joy in doing so?"

"Harper doesn't deserve to be tarred as an enemy of these people," Beka protested.

"I agree, which means we have work to do," Dylan stood up.

"In what way?" Beka could see Dylan had a plan.

"The Resisters are selling themselves as the good guys to this sector, they are heroes, and we have enough evidence to support that Harper is one of the good guys too, and is a victim in all this based on a misunderstanding," Dylan offered. "The Resisters will not want anyone questioning their new found saviour status."

"We blackmail them?" Beka smirked, but clearly liking the plan. "If they don't give us Harper, unharmed, we'll start making noises that they have an innocent man, that they are no better than Yussuf?" she smiled now.

"We talk to Colin, see how he reacts to this," Dylan stated. "We'll have Rhade and Trance ready to clear Harper's name, should Colin or his friends do anything to us."

"I like this plan," Beka agreed.

* * *

The pain in his shoulders was beginning to drain him, and in that moment Harper knew he'd be willing to do anything to get out of the situation he'd found himself in. On that thought, Harper was still a little unsure exactly why he was in the situation he was now in. Was it because he was simply living in Yussuf's palace, or was it something else, he had forgotten a lot lately, he considered, and that bad feeling in his gut began working overtime.

He had heard a lot of cries of pains in the past hour, and figured he wasn't the only one in that painful position, he had heard Yussuf speaking, or rather threatening the intruders who had done this, and he knew Dani was by his side, as his own personal darkness continued and he relied on his hearing to get any idea of what was going on.

Harper shifted slightly, to try and relieve some of the weight on his shoulders, and felt sharp pains now in his wrists, as the ropes aggravated and burned his skin. He felt frustration now, wishing he wasn't in this position, feeling unable to do anything about it and then not being able to see, to look into the eyes of his captors.

"And finally, the two kludges of the pride," a voice announced suddenly, drawing Harper's attention back to the room. "We have Dani, the adoptive daughter in some eyes, the suspected lover in others, and the known spy!"

There were a chorus of jeers now in the room, and Harper was horrified to hear the sound of someone being hit, closely followed by a cry of pain from Dani.

"Leave her alone!" Harper cried out, and struggled in his restraints as his instincts kicked in to protect those closest to him.

"And then there's the kludge who saved the tyrants life," the voice sounded closer now, and Harper yelped suddenly, as a hand roughly grabbed his hair and pulled his head back. "Despite a sizable bounty on his head, blindness and being a worthless specimen of humanity, has managed to stay alive for all his crimes."

Harper took a breath, and realised the fear he now had, and tried to replace it with determination, as he felt the weight of his captor's hand grabbing his hair, as it pulled him down against the restraints putting additional pressure on his already sore shoulders.

"Payback is long overdue for foiling our plan," the voice hissed into his ear.

* * *

"Beka!"

"I'm watching, I'm watching."

Beka bit her nails nervously, feeling useless as she could only sit and watch proceedings and had been for the past couple of hours, glued to the screen. This had been the first time they'd paid any attention to Harper and she felt sick to the stomach, seeing Harper at the mercy of the Resisters, and they were still a few light years away from their meeting with Colin. A hand was felt on her shoulders, but she failed to react, as Rhade sat beside her now.

"They will pay also," Rhade simply said, remembering the words he had heard broadcast by the guy holding Harper aggressively.

"Do you sense that Harper is only partially aware of what's going on here?" Beka asked in a low concerned voice.

"Unless someone has told him this is being beamed across the sector, I'm sure he has no idea of the gravity of the situation," Rhade frowned. "He appears too calm, too relaxed."

"I think I'd personally prefer to not know what they are doing, than just sit here watching, why are they doing this, broadcasting this?" Beka snapped, getting to her feet. "They really think this will win them more support?"

"They are nothing more than animals; did you see what they did to Yussuf's second wife?" Rhade stressed with obvious disgust. "She is still unconscious and hanging in her restraints."

"This is sick," Beka said, but couldn't tear her attention away from the screen. "We have to stop this."

"We will," Rhade assured her, and at that moment they heard Harper's cry of pain as the Resister backhanded him.

TBC


	24. Chapter 24

Part 24

Harper felt the blood dripping from a cut lip, as his senses returned after the sharp blow to his head. His shoulders had been jarred and he felt his full weight in that area now, as well as in the wrist joints, his hands were totally numb. With his head hanging down, Harper heard that the attention was further down the line now and away from him for the moment.

"Seamus?" Dani whispered.

"Dani, you ok?" Harper quickly replied.

"I'm ok, did he hurt you?"

"I'm good, hanging in there," he attempted humour.

"I feel like both my shoulders are dislocated," Dani complained under her breath. "My hands are blue," she added.

"My arms will be the longest part of my body if this continues," Harper joined in the moaning. "What's going on, Dani?"

Dani was silent for a moment. "He's punching Yussuf," Dani observed. "And the entire sector is watching."

"What?" Harper checked.

"Oh, you don't know, it's all being broadcast for the sector to see," Dani informed him. "Yussuf's fall from grace."

"But," Harper spoke, trying to understand the situation. "What did Yussuf do? What did we do?"

"Whatever it was, we're now the enemy," Dani spoke sadly.

"I don't feel like an enemy, that makes no sense we help people, I've always helped people if I could," Harper protested in a low hushed voice.

"Maybe they don't understand our intentions?" Dani offered and then gestured for silence, and Harper soon heard the Resisters returning down the line.

* * *

Beka sat up, and even though they were approaching co-ordinates, the coverage had got interesting and she wasn't going to miss it. The Resister was going down the line of prisoners, demanding to know their allegiances and Beka wanted to see them reach Harper, and she finally found a smile in anticipation.

"What's going on?" Dylan casually asked as he entered command, seeing the final approach towards the planet ahead.

"Five minutes till we dock," Beka informed him. "And they are asking for allegiances on the sicko wacko channel."

"Have they reached Harper yet?" Dylan asked, finding a position to watch the footage from behind Beka's chair.

"Not yet, he's the last in line," Beka stated. "Dani's up now, and he's next," Beka enthused.

"No surprise that Dani is loyal to Yussuf," Dylan remarked, as they both heard Dani confirm her loyalty to Yussuf.

They watched as Harper's hair was grabbed and his head brought up, and they saw his cut lip was healing, the bandage still covering his eyes.

'Kludge, tell us your allegiance.'

"Do they have to call him that?" Beka seethed under her breath as they waited for Harper's response.

Harper took some breaths, clearly struggling in the painful position he was currently in and they saw the strain in his expression from hanging by his wrists.

"I'm loyal to," Harper paused, needing some more breaths. "Yussuf," he muttered.

There was only silence in the Maru's command section as they watched the Resister turn on his heels and looked directly at the camera. All of his prisoners had confirmed their allegiance to the enemy of the Resisters, and now Beka felt sick to the stomach.

"This palace is now a stronghold for the Resisters, these fiends are our prisoners, our enemy, and they will suffer, our time has come and we have responded," the Resister spoke with triumph but he quickly looked to one side as a flurry of gunfire was heard in the distance. "The fight it appears still continues, but we have the power, enjoy your day and celebrate this victory with us!"

The transmission abruptly ended, and Beka was left staring at a blank screen, having only caught sight of the prisoners beginning to be moved, Harper with them.

"We should concentrate on docking, and then on our meeting with Colin," Dylan calmly spoke, and Beka numbly nodded her head, as she guided the Maru towards the space port.

* * *

Harper felt the rope that was keeping him hanging being cut, and then he crumpled to the floor as it finally gave way. Grimacing as he made contact with the wooden floor, he immediately felt his shoulders and wrists burning; now they were finally relieved from the pressure of holding up his own body weight.

Seconds later he was hauled to his feet, and painfully pulled along whilst trying not to fall or think about the intense shooting pains running down his arms as the feeling returned. Harper still couldn't feel his hands, that were still bound together and he had no idea where Dani was. He stumbled along for nearly five minutes, hearing gun fire and conflict not far away, before being pushed into a cold room and he fell clumsily to the floor with his hands still bound.

Hands pushed him onto his back and then he was dragged across the floor. Harper instinctively struggled against the treatment he was receiving, only to find that the handling got worse as a result.

"I'm not a piece of meat!" Harper protested, and promptly felt a kick to his ribs rendering him unable to breathe for a moment. In that moment he was hauled to his feet and forced to stand as he shakily got his bearings once more.

He felt hands on his face and before he could react he felt the bandage covering his eyes being ripped off without care.

"Ow!" Harper cried out angrily to the stinging sensation, and he shut his eyes immediately, as the sudden influx of light hit him for a moment.

Fingers grabbed his face now, pressing deeply into his cheeks and he felt someone close to him. "Open your eyes kludge, let me see what they've done!"

Harper resisted for as long as he could, but the guy holding his face was now forcing his eyes open until he relented, and opened them to the blinding light that made him want to instantly close them again but a sharp slap across the face stopped him.

His sight was still blurred, as Harper adjusted to the sensation of seeing something again, but his eyes began to water, still sensitive to the light after the treatment.

"Nice work," the Resister remarked. "I like the red bloodshot look."

"Thanks," Harper sneered through gritted teeth, his face still gripped by the man, as he closed his eyes to save them from the painful light.

The Resister ignored Harper's remark and untied the human's wrists from their tight binds. Promptly Harper was spun around and pushed into the cell wall, as the guy retied his wrists behind his back. The Resister then paused, and a shiver was sent through Harper as his captor traced the scar on his bare back, the one behind his shoulder, the one that for some reason Harper had forgotten about.

"You were a slave," The Resister stated.

"What of it?" Harper asked, trying to hide his own confusion.

The Resister sharply spun Harper around again, and he found himself pushed into the wall with even more force, his back receiving the full impact. All the while, Harper's mind was in a frenzy trying to remember when he was a slave, and how he had been marked without seemingly knowing or remembering, and his gut was churning once again.

His thoughts were abruptly brought back to the present as the Resister grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at his captor.

"You were a slave of Yussuf?"

Harper didn't want to speak, his instincts screamed at him not to speak but there was doubt now clouding his thoughts.

"Who are you?" Harper asked.

"You do not ask me who I am!" the Resister yelled, obviously insulted.

Harper frowned, his eyes still partially closed. "I don't know."

The Resister now mocked him with laughter, before roughly shoving Harper back into the wall. "You don't know me?"

"No, I don't know about being a slave," Harper spoke in barely a whisper.

His hair was suddenly grabbed, forcing his head up and Harper managed to open his eyes slightly, seeing only a fuzzy image of the guy tormenting him.

"We've heard rumours about brainwashing, about Yussuf fixing his slaves," the Resister spoke with a calm voice now.

Harper listened intently, and slowly those doubts turned into paranoia about his own thoughts and beliefs.

"Where do you come from?"

"Earth," Harper responded.

"How did you leave Earth?"

Harper thought about the question, and he realised he was thinking too long about it. He closed his eyes, before the resister pulled his hair to get a response.

"You left Earth, kludge, on the Eureka Maru, a Captain Rebecca Valentine rescued you, made you her engineer," the Resister told him, and Harper tried to remember. "Do you remember the Andromeda?"

"I remember Earth, and I remember saving Yussuf's life, I remember being here, and I remember Dani," Harper decided to speak, somehow knowing this stranger knew more about him, than he knew about himself and he was eager to learn more. "I know I'm forgetting things, my gut has been telling me this, but I don't know why I've forgotten."

"Interesting," the Resister simply said, before someone else entered the cell.

"Captain, orders from up high, we're to secure the prisoners and help contain the left side, Yussuf's men are gaining some ground."

The Captain grabbed Harper and dragged him out of the cell along a corridor where he was pushed into another cell, and this time he heard the heavy mental door closing behind him.

"Seamus!"

"Dani?" Harper recognised the voice, before feeling Dani close to him and gently encouraging him to sit by the wall.

"I was so worried when that guy separated you from us," Dani spoke with concern, as she struggled to sit next to him with their hands still being tied behind them.

"The others are here?"

"There are in cells along this section," Dani responded. "Where's your bandage, did they hurt your eyes?" she fussed.

"They sting a bit, the light," Harper complained, keeping his head down. "Dani, was I, or am I a slave of Yussuf?" Harper then asked, needing to know.

Dani didn't respond immediately, as she seemed to be considering his question before Harper felt the need to lean forward, to show her his back.

"It's hazy," Dani spoke finally, and somehow Harper knew that she had seen his back, and the scar he carried. "But I remember you serving us, as a slave, but I can't remember details."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Harper accused.

"I thought you knew, and I didn't want to upset you," Dani stated in her defence. "I saw the scar earlier, when we were being escorted from the building."

"There's a lot I've forgotten," Harper then spoke, his voice low. "And a lot that doesn't make sense," he added. "I'm made to feel I am somehow a part of Yussuf's pride, but I'm a freaking kludge, they are ubers, it makes no sense!"

"Seamus, we're both human, we forget things it's why we are what we are," Dani tried to calm him down.

"What?" Harper snapped. "See, that makes no sense either, I don't forget things, Dani but just lately, I've forgotten a hell of a lot," he stressed, clearly worked up. "I say I'm loyal to Yussuf as if it's the most natural thing in the world to say, but deep down, it just doesn't feel right, it's like there are two of me, and the other me is yelling at me to do something."

"You know I have mental health problems too," Dani reasoned, but there was a mocking tone in her voice.

"I don't know what to believe anymore," Harper sighed, and he couldn't help feeling lost.

"Yussuf will sort this out, he'll regain this palace and restore the prides place in this sector," Dani assured him. "Everything will be ok, Seamus."

"What the hell am I doing working for an uber?" Harper asked with a sigh. "I saved his life, I remember that so clearly, but why would I save an uber?"

"You talk like one of those Resisters," Dani observed.

Harper let his head fall back against the wall, considering Dani's remark, as he closed his eyes. "Maybe they got to me, but I know one thing," he said with a small smile. "I'm glad you're here," he offered.

"Me too," Dani agreed, and there was a tense silence for a moment before Harper felt Dani moving a little closer, until he felt her lips on his.

For the first time since he had woken up, something finally felt very right as he leaned closer and they kissed.

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

Part 25

Harper's thoughts were consumed by the kiss he was sharing with Dani, remembering what he had, and had lost, for so long Dani had been all he had thought about and desired, with her in his arms his life would be complete and everything would be right with the world.

Like a tidal wave, Harper became swept up in a sudden sensation of doubts, this wasn't perfect and he couldn't remember his life when he had had those consuming thoughts, something was very wrong and now it seemed as if he was seeing clearly. Suddenly Harper moved away from Dani as if sensing a threat, breaking the kiss looking on unsure.

"What was that?" Harper asked; his voice cold and emotionless.

"You don't know?" Dani teased, and her voice cut him like a knife as he fought the inner battle with his feelings, she still sounded like the woman he claimed to love.

Looking away, Harper appeared angry for a moment. "Yesterday you didn't want to know me, and now suddenly you're freaking kissing me?" he stressed, his voice giving away his confusion more than he had wanted.

"I thought you wanted this, I thought we had this once?" Dani now sounded unsure, her voice softer.

"What game are you playing, Dani?" Harper asked, unable to look to his left where Dani sat close to him, instead he kept his eyes firmly closed facing to his right. When she didn't answer, Harper continued, holding back his emotions as he spoke through gritted teeth. "I'm forgetting important things, I know it, my gut is telling me this, we're being held hostage and you think now is a good time to do this?" Harper demanded. "With you, everything was supposed to be perfect, this isn't perfect!" he finally stated losing some of his control.

Dani was silent now, and Harper tried to use what senses he had to determine what she was thinking. He knew one thing, he had upset her and he realised that maybe he had let the situation get to him. With some care, he slowly opened his eyes and squinted against the light that was in the cell, to look at the blurred image of Dani beside him.

"Dani, I'm sorry, ok?" Harper offered in almost a whisper. "It's just I don't know what is real anymore, is any of this real? I'm having a hard time making sense of all of this, and I just know that something isn't right."

"You think that I'm fake?"

"No," Harper immediately answered. "Maybe, I don't know," he stressed to show his confused state of mind, wishing that his hands weren't secured behind his back, wanting to desperately hide behind them. "But seeing as you're a prisoner too, I guess you're in this mess as well."

"I've had to live with confusion all my life, with not remembering things that I think are important, Seamus," Dani reminded him. "Nothing you are telling me sounds any different to my everyday life," she emphasised.

Harper sighed. "Do you know what it feels like to think you're losing your mind?"

"Seamus, you are not losing your mind," Dani insisted.

"I say one thing with such conviction but it doesn't feel like it's the right thing, it feels wrong," Harper attempted to explain.

"You're just under a lot of stress, Seamus, what with your eyes, the fits and this whole crazy situation," Dani assured him. "I won't leave your side, I promise, we'll get through this, and Yussuf will defeat these goons."

"What if he doesn't?" Harper idly asked.

"Then we better get use to each others company because we could be in this cell for a long time," Dani sighed.

* * *

Beka drew her gun, arming it she aimed it at the guy stood before her. Dylan remained unmoving by her side, but when the guy didn't react, he smiled and had to comment.

"Usually, when she draws the gun it's time to do as she says," Dylan helpfully pointed out. "So tell Colin that whatever he is busy with, it can be done later."

The guy glared at Dylan, before backing away and returning through the door into the building where Colin was seemingly trying to avoid them. Dylan and Beka both watched as the door closed.

"Shall we?" Beka asked, with her gun still armed.

"Ladies first," Dylan gestured, and Beka only smiled before stopping the door closing completely and they both disappeared into the building.

The guy Beka had threatened walked only a short distance ahead and in no time Beka had caught him up.

"Change of plan, escort us to Colin and you won't die," Beka hissed, keeping her gun out of sight but pressed into the guy's lower back, as Dylan shielded her actions walking close by.

"Don't you think we have enough problems without this as well?" the guy demanded, seemingly losing patience.

"Your problems became my problem the moment you took my innocent friend hostage!" Beka stressed with anger, pressing the gun deeper into the guys back.

"You really have no idea do you?" The guy spoke without fear. "Let me guess you're friends of Seamus Harper, right?"

Beka grabbed the guys shoulder and spun him around, pushing him roughly into the wall. "What do you know?"

"I know that this whole mess started because of your friend!" the guy yelled back.

"What do you mean?" Dylan now asked.

Beka was trying hard to hold back her anger, as she spoke. "He did nothing wrong, he did not purposely save Yussuf's life, he can just do really stupid things sometimes and he shouldn't be condemned because of that, he doesn't deserve this crap!" Beka protested with anger as she pushed the guy unto the wall some more.

"Beka Valentine."

Beka held the guy firmly against the wall emphasising her gun, before slowly turning to face the new voice.

"Colin, it's about time," Beka sneered, back handing the guy she was pinning to the wall with her gun and he slumped to the ground. "Now tell me what the hell is going on and how I can take Harper out of it."

"I wish I could," Colin simply answered.

"At least try," Dylan stated before Beka could respond.

"Follow me, we can talk in a more private place than the corridor," Colin gestured.

Beka glanced at Dylan, and then followed the captain as he followed Colin to a side room. Cautiously she checked the room before easing her gun down, but remained alert as Colin found himself a seat and then gestured to them to take the two other seats in the room.

"I've missed you, Beka, it was a real wrench to leave the Andromeda after my time there," Colin began.

"Cut to the chase, why is Harper your prisoner?" Beka demanded.

"He's not our prisoner," Colin started but was soon cut off.

"Don't mess us around, Colin, we've seen the broadcasts, we know the Resistors are behind the siege at the palace and you are a part of the Resistors," Beka stressed angrily.

"You're half right," Colin offered.

"Which half?" Dylan interjected.

"The half about me being a part of the Resistors," Colin answered.

Beka got to her feet with frustration. "The Resistors have claimed the siege of the Palace, Colin; it's all over their broadcasts! Don't try to deny it."

Colin took a moment, carefully watching Beka before responding. "My time on the Andromeda was well spent, Beka, I saw how you guys worked for each other, I saw how important you were to one another, I know you are all good people working for a better universe, just like the one I want," Colin proclaimed, before standing up and approaching Beka. "When I returned, and the Resistors were formed I was a huge part of their conception, and we pulled together with one common goal, to cut down Yussuf's dominance in this sector."

"This is all very interesting, but it's not answering my question," Beka stated, her hand firmly gripping her weapon. "My friend is your hostage."

"The Resistors grew strong in number, over a short period of time and we all came from different areas, all affected differently by Yussuf's regime," Colin continued to explain with consideration. "When I saw that Seamus Harper was a target, I couldn't idly sit back and accept that."

Beka was about to comment when she stopped herself, hearing his words. "What?" she managed, trying to hide being caught out. "So what happened?" she quickly asked.

"I convinced those that trusted me that Harper was a good guy in a difficult situation, to explain his actions," Colin explained. "My most used phrase for the past few weeks has been 'one second of instinctive reaction does not make a man accountable for a whole sectors misery."

Dylan stood up and stepped closer to Colin. "So you know Harper is an innocent man caught up in this mess?"

"My insistence in his innocence has created this mess, Captain Hunt," Colin admitted. "The Resistors are split, those who believe Harper should not be punished, and those who feel his actions deserve punishment."

"Let me guess, those Resistors currently holding siege in the palace, are the ones who raised their hands to the 'let's get him' faction?" Beka frowned, and replaced her gun into its holster.

"They call themselves Resistors, but they do not represent us all," Colin frowned now, as he walked around the desk. "We've been trying to work out what to do next, before it's too late."

"What do you mean before it's too late?" Beka asked.

"The new Resistors plan to cash the bounty on Harper's head in," Colin answered. "I doubt they'll be strapped for money, now they are the sectors saviours in taking over Yussuf's palace and humiliating the Nietzschean leader, people will be throwing money at them with thanks," Colin continued. "So I can only imagine they are doing this to further punish your friend," he finished looking at Beka.

"Do you know who put the bounty on Harper's head?" Dylan asked.

"Rico and his sister," Colin stated. "They blame Harper for their elder brother being on Yussuf's death row."

"Surely now the new Resistors have taken over the palace, Rico's brother is no longer in danger though, what use would Harper be to them now?" Beka asked, with confusion.

"For the past two weeks the Resistors have been arguing and fighting over what to do with Harper, your question was my argument, but I still believe they think that Rico will want Harper, and our plans now are to at least stop that happening," Colin smiled. "When I got your call, I was more than happy to help."

"So why didn't you want to see us when we first arrived?" Dylan asked.

Colin looked beyond them, out to the corridor. "We are discovering new Resistors every day amongst our rank, it makes our life difficult," he suggested. "I'm sorry but the first I knew of you being here was when I found you beating on the guy in the corridor."

"I will happily offer the services of the Andromeda in your plans to get Harper out of this mess," Dylan then offered.

"That would be greatly appreciated," Colin smiled. "Come with me, and let me introduce you to some of my team."

"How many men do you have loyal to your way of thinking?" Dylan asked as they began to move from the room.

"Roughly two hundred, but immediately in this vicinity about fifty," Colin answered.

"More than enough to make our presence felt," Beka remarked.

"I agree," Dylan nodded his head, as they walked down the corridor.

"Captain Hunt," Colin began. "I will happily assigned command to you for this mission, it would be an honour to observe leadership from you, I'm still rusty after my years of imprisonment," Colin requested.

"Transfer all men willing to assist us to the Andromeda, we'll give them basic training to ensure we're ready and we'll plan our best move," Dylan stated with authority.

"How long do you think we have before the new Resistors attempt to hand Harper over?" Beka asked.

"Anytime in the next twelve hours, I have men posted to Rico's position, they will inform us when the call is made, so far no formal claim on the bounty has been made to our knowledge," Colin stated.

"Good, then this will be a quick induction to the Andromeda for your men, you think they are ready?" Dylan asked.

"As ready as they'll ever be," Colin shrugged.

"We're already two people down," Dylan stated, thinking of Harper and Rommie. "So any extra help will be an advantage."

"You can see for yourself in a moment, we're heading for the weapons training room," Colin gestured up ahead, and the feint sound of gunfire could now be heard, as Beka and Dylan continued walking with Colin to meet the troops.

* * *

They sat in silence, and the cell offered little by way of distraction. The temperature had gradually reduced, and they both suspected purposely as the cold air began to bite.

"I would die for a plate of food right now," Harper remarked tiredly.

"Give me a feast and I'll be the happiest girl alive," Dani spoke up in tired agreement.

"How long have we been here?"

"Hours, I don't know though, it's hard to judge," Dani responded.

Harper shifted slightly. "My hands hurt, wish they'd take these damn ropes off, what good does it do keeping us tied up?"

"Let me see," Dani asked, and saw Harper's colourless hands. "Can you still feel them?"

"Not exactly, had pins and needles in them for the longest time, but now it's more numb."

"The ropes are too tight," Dani stressed. "You should have said earlier, shift around so we're back to back, I'll try to loosen the ropes a little."

Harper did as Dani asked, and soon felt her hands against his wrists, trying to find some give in the ropes.

Grimacing, Harper tried not to think of the burning stinging sensation the ropes moving did to his sore skin.

"Ah," Harper offered and took a deep breath as his felt a sudden rush of blood returning to his hands, it was painful for a moment before his left hand began to ache.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just my left hand giving me a little reminder that it's not what it was," Harper offered between pained breaths.

"Was it injured?" Dani asked with concern.

"Old injury," Harper responded, recovering now. "When I saved Yussuf's life my hand got badly cut up, couldn't use it for," Harper stopped mid-sentence and experienced another loss of memory, he couldn't remember when he regained the use of his hand, but remembered injuring it.

"Seamus," Dani spoke calmly, her hands gently rubbed his hands as they remained back to back. "Don't fight the memories, I'm always told it doesn't help."

"Do you always believe what you are told?" Harper asked.

"I have to," Dani spoke with sadness.

They were interrupted by the cell door suddenly opening, and Dani looked up to see a Resistor enter and without pause he headed towards Harper.

"Where are you taking him!" Dani yelled out, partly to give Harper some warning before the Resistor hauled him roughly to his feet.

"I'll see you soon, Dani," Harper wryly smiled when the Resistor failed to answer, and Harper was soon dragged from the cell with little ceremony.

TBC


	26. Chapter 26

Part 26

Beka stood in the meeting room on the Andromeda, and looked over to the table seeing the empty seats that Harper and Rommie used to occupy, and frowning.

"So what's the plan?" Beka asked.

Dylan gestured for Beka to take her seat. "Our best option is to offer assistance to the Yussuf pride to retake the palace from the New Resistors."

"That's a crappy plan, and can I go on record officially with that statement?" Beka asked.

"It's been noted," Rommie answered in hologram form, stood just to the side of Dylan.

"It's crappy because in one instant we'll become the enemies, you do not help Yussuf in this sector, something Harper has found out in the worst possible way," Beka stressed.

"This sector has just freed itself from the Yussuf regime," Rhade now offered. "This would be a disastrous move for Commonwealth public relations," he added with a wry smile.

"I didn't say it was a popular option," Dylan defended himself. "We want to rescue Harper, and as things stand now we don't only have to get through the New Resistors, but Yussuf's men as well, who are also trying to gain access to the palace with limited success so far."

"How could Colin let things get so bad?" Beka asked now with a sigh. "Surely he could have avoided this extreme reaction from those who were not prepared to share his viewpoint on Harper."

"The New Resistors have a well organised resistance, the siege is holding," Rommie noted. "I have been unable to detect a weakness, for a relatively new breakaway group, they are highly organised."

Dylan leaned forward. "Something I had noticed too, Rommie," he supported. "If I didn't know better I would say the siege had been planned for months, not weeks," he added.

"You think they strung Colin and his supporters along?" Beka asked. "Why?"

Dylan glanced at Rommie, and saw immediately that she was on the same wavelength. "The main reason we've been given so far for the split is Seamus Harper," Dylan offered. "Colin made no secret of his support for Harper it seems, and I would assume gave every reason he could think of as to why they shouldn't go after Harper, and by that reasoning Colin would have mentioned his time on the Andromeda," Dylan finished.

"They used Colin to get information on Harper," Beka finally caught onto what Dylan and Rommie had figured. "I don't get why though, why go to all this trouble?"

Rommie looked at Dylan before looking at Beka. "In this sector, Harper is the poster boy for Yussuf's continued tyranny of this system, his actions in saving Yussuf's life has made him a target, what better way to further your new found respect in a system ruled by fear than to not only to defeat the tyrant, but to also capture all of those who have been blamed for his continued reign."

"Only they didn't realise that Harper would be so easy to capture," Dylan now spoke up. "They never expected him to be in Yussuf's palace, so without warning they break away, take over the palace and hit the jackpot in their most wanted list."

"And they never had to trick Colin into bringing the Andromeda to this system to capture Harper," Beka now caught on, once again with a sigh. "Colin is still finding men in his midst who support the New Resistors, that guy I knocked out in the corridor."

"And now we have fifty of his men on board, training using our weapons, and we don't even know their full allegiance," Rhade pointed out.

"I have them all on strict surveillance," Rommie confirmed.

"There will be no time to find out the true supporters from the fake, so we have to stay alert, Rommie, you suspect anything even minor details that may seem like nothing, you let one of us know," Dylan ordered. "Everyone else, keep your eyes peeled."

"So, what about Harper?" Beka asked.

"We can not defeat those guys in their stronghold, if we are to get Harper to safety, it's going to have to be when they take him to claim the bounty," Dylan suggested.

"That gives us a very small window of opportunity," Rhade pointed out.

"But it's a window," Dylan argued. "And right now, that's all we have."

Rommie looked to one side suddenly. "Dylan, we're receiving a message on secure channel two," she announced, getting everyone's attention. "It's Rico, he wants to speak to you alone," she finished, and was met by momentary silence.

* * *

Harper kept his eyes closed, as he was dragged along beside the Resistor that had taken him from the cell. Finally they came to a stop and Harper found himself pushed into a new cell, and he barely managed to stay upright. Soon the Resistor was untying his hands, freeing his arms. Harper then felt another set of hands as someone assisted the Resistor in walking him forward a short way.

The sound of chains were then heard, and it sounded as though they were going through a pulley above them, Harper squinted his eyes open to see if he could see anything, but it was still too blurred. Harper was then forced to his knees, and his head pushed forward by a foot on the back of his neck, and the Resistors kept hold of his arms stretching them back, either side of him for a moment.

Harper wanted desperately to say something, to show defiance, but the words didn't come and Harper realised how tense he was. For nearly a minute they kept him in the same position, only bringing his arms further back until it became even more uncomfortable.

Finally they secured the two chains, one around each of his elbows and bring each separate chain up around his arms till they reached the shoulders. The two chains were then brought around his chest a couple of times, until the two ends could be secured with a heavy padlock that now rested on his upper back.

Immediately Harper tested the chains, and found they gave little give and as the Resistors moved away, Harper found he was tightly secured into a kneeling position. The only benefit being that both his hands were at least able to breath now, as he felt full circulation returning to them. The chains however were already starting to dig in, and Harper concentrated on remaining still to ease the pressure.

The two Resistors then left the cell, and for a long while Harper was left alone, and he cautiously opened his eyes to be met with a blurred emptiness, the cell like all the others offered nothing new, just walls. With only his thoughts and doubts for company, Harper tried to focus on what he did remember, hoping to somehow retrieve the memories he knew he had forgotten.

It seemed an eternity before the cell door opened again, and Harper heard something was being pushed in first, due to a set of annoying squeaky wheels.

"I could fix that," Harper offered brightly, his voice strained due to lack of liquid, and his eyes were able to make out the movement, as he saw the mass of two people pushing a trolley like contraption to his side.

"This isn't the only thing needing to be fixed in this room," one of the men offered in reply, but Harper couldn't determine which one had spoken of the two.

One of the men walked away, and left the room closing the heavy cell door behind him and Harper found himself alone with one guy, and he assume it was the one who had spoken. Fear began to build inside of him, as Harper knew he was in a vulnerable position, but a part of him was waiting for some answers, he needed to remember who he was and where he had come from, Harper knew it was important to him.

"You will call me, let me think, you're a kludge from Earth so something you're weak mind can handle, let's say you can call me John," The Resistor finally announced.

"I can think of better names," Harper sneered with resistance.

His hair was suddenly grabbed, his head forced back, and Harper could now make out a bit more about 'John's' features as the man moved closer, he had dark hair, a defined jaw line and really bad breath, Harper pulled a disgusted face, as the man began to speak. "It's time we find out what's going on inside your mind."

"What?" Harper questioned, with his voice shaky.

"Tell me about the Andromeda," John asked.

"The what?"

"The Andromeda," John persisted.

"It's the largest galaxy," Harper answered. "At least by those who reside in that part of space," Harper continued, without pausing for breath. "Its said that it will collide with the Milky Way Galaxy at some point in our not so distant future, but I don't think we have to worry about that just yet," Harper recounted, his scalp starting to sting from his hair still being pulled by the hold the Resister had on him.

"I meant the High Guard Warship, the Andromeda Ascendant," John seemed unimpressed.

Harper smirked now. "High Guard?" he questioned. "Man, I gotta think about this, I think that ship was lost and never seen again, stuff of legend, I don't know anything more."

"They did a good job on you, Seamus, in fact do you even know who you are?" John asked. "I was told by our captain that you barely remembered a thing about your current life, but I didn't quite believe to this extent."

"I'm not telling you anything," Harper looked away.

"Oh you will, Seamus Zelazny Harper, Chief engineer of the High Guard Warship Andromeda Ascendant, serving the legendary three hundred year old Captain Hunt," John announced, and the confusion on Harper's features were hard to ignore. "Of course, you can not remember this and you know why?"

"Why?" Harper asked, almost on instinct.

"Because Yussuf knew the threat, and he knew your worth to us," John half smiled, as he pulled Harper's head back further. "You're a kludge with a lot of useful information in that head of yours on a certain flagship of the Commonwealth, that we think should not be in Yussuf's hands, and he doesn't want it in anybody else's hands, especially as you also saved the tyrant's life, and he is forced to honour that action, stupid ubers," John explained with some joy, and Harper felt some cool liquid being rubbed on his temples, but he couldn't see enough to know what John was doing.

John soon continued. "Yussuf wiped your mind, most probably only temporarily, hoping our threat would be nullified, but sensing our strength he wasn't going to make your capture easy for us, so now we have to reverse what Yussuf has done, and we don't have much time, your worth is going down by the second."

"I don't understand," Harper stressed, feeling something cold being attached to both temples now and he tensed, feeling the wires that hung from his temples, and he didn't have to see it, to know they were probably attached to something on the trolley.

"You're a wanted man, Seamus Harper," John declared joyously. "Because you saved Yussuf's life, and in doing so you made yourself a target to anyone who wanted to get to Yussuf," John explained with care. "You see he's a very proud man but he has a weakness for honouring those who do him good, you don't know what a truly tricky situation you are in right now," John stated, as Harper heard a machine powering up beside him, and his fear grew. "His weakness is our strength, Yussuf wanted the Andromeda, it's all he's wanted all along and you were the key to him getting that, you were the weakest link by his judgement, and it's why he sent his best agent to further weaken your resolve," John sighed.

"Dani," Harper quickly guessed correctly.

"She's good, fools almost everyone who comes into contact with her," John casually explained. "Almost," he repeated.

"What do you mean?"

"Dani is a pro, Seamus, yet you defeated her, you made her somehow betray Yussuf to save your life, and that my little kludge, makes you even more of a target, and even more valuable to us," John confirmed. "Dani has been out of commission for nearly three months as a result, Yussuf has no intelligence agent as good as her, and that's given us the opportunity to grow and it's why we're here, Seamus, you weakened Yussuf's pride by taking out their best agent, you are therefore priceless to us."

"Shouldn't you be treating me with more respect then?" Harper asked, sensing bad was about to happen, feeling the chains digging in and the coldness of the nodes stuck to his temples.

"Well, our first objective was always to overthrow Yussuf," John frowned. "Done that, and he's crying like a baby in the basement cell, all alone and powerless, we're fighting on all fronts and winning," he stressed. "So now, the next plan comes into play, because by Yussuf coming to your rescue after Gerentex took you, he gave you to us on a plate, and we can still claim the bounty on your head if we make this quick," John announced with urgency.

"And what is this next plan?" Harper almost feared the answer.

"If it's good enough for Yussuf, it's good enough for us, we want the Andromeda, Harper and you, you're going to remember those lost memories fast, your sight has to return, and you will ensure we are successful," John declared. "Once we have the Andromeda, we're going to murder Yussuf and his pride's members on the Command Deck, it will be the perfect end to the years of hell that monster has put this system through," John declared triumphantly, before continuing with pride.

"For Yussuf to be killed on the very thing that will go down in history as the ship that destroyed him, and I say that because it became out of his reach solely due to your actions," John's hand finally let go of Harper's hair. "If you hadn't saved his life, kludge, he would have taken the Andromeda by force using your body, probably nearly dead for more effect, to defeat your friends, but your actions and Dani's affections for you clouded Yussuf's judgement and he gave us the opportunity we'd been waiting for, for a very long time."

"I don't know anything about this or about the Andromeda," Harper reminded him.

"But you will," John stated and Harper felt a light shock in his temple, making him jump and take an instant deep breath, to counter act the discomfort, adding to the pains that position he was secured in offered.

"And if I don't?" Harper managed to ask, his voice shaking.

"Then we'll just cash you in and let Rico get what he wants from you," John shrugged calmly. "You see we don't really need you, it would just be easier if you co-operated, and I have heard all about Rico's punishments, I know he was the one who blinded you, Rico wants you dead, Seamus, death by his hand and something tells me it won't be quick and pain free," John stated thoughtfully. "The Resistors just want you to get us on board the Andromeda, and if you can get us full control I can guarantee you'll live."

"Rico?" Harper struggled to remember or place the name, not taking much else in, as his mind was still jumpy from the shock, but the name it seemed both familiar and unknown at the same time.

"Someone else who wants you dead," John answered swiftly. "Has had a bounty on your head for quite some time, kludge," John then sighed. "Let's get this over with, relax, Seamus, don't make this hard on yourself."

Harper tensed, closing his eyes tightly in anticipation of the first shock, and he felt the first beads of sweat already forming on his brow.

TBC


	27. Chapter 27

Part 27

"Go ahead, Rommie, put him through," Dylan ordered, now settled into his office and on a secure channel. "Rico, I presume," Dylan spoke as the transmission appeared before him in holographic form.

"Captain Dylan Hunt," Rico proclaimed, and Dylan could see how young the kid was, barely in his early twenties, he guessed. "I believe we can be of use to each other."

"That depends," Dylan remained calm and casual.

"On what?"

"On whether you still have the bounty on my Engineer's head," Dylan poured himself some water as he spoke.

Rico didn't appear too deterred by Dylan's words, offering a small smile. "My business with Harper had now passed, I'll withdraw the bounty, I have bigger concerns now," he gestured on screen.

"Is that so?" Dylan wanted to laugh but managed to resist the temptation.

"Captain Hunt, I can appreciate your lack of respect towards me, my past actions again your crew is not something I'm proud of," Rico offered.

"Really?" Dylan sounded disbelieving. "You blinded my Engineer, and then you put a bounty on his head, and you truly expect me to listen to you?"

"I can help you retrieve your engineer, Seamus Harper," Rico cut to the chase.

"So you can kill him properly?" Dylan questioned.

"Right now, we have bigger problems than Seamus Harper, Dylan Hunt," Rico's voice grew stronger. "The Resistors are the new threat to this system and if you truly are a guardian of peace then you will hear my concerns out."

"You got me there," Dylan conceded, though his scepticism remained.

"I have been contacted by their leader, he has offered me Seamus Harper in return for the bounty," Rico announced.

"We suspected as much," Dylan admitted.

"Listen to me Captain Hunt, you want that kludge back, I want my brother back, and both are trapped inside that Palace with no hope of escape whilst those Resistors run amok like they own the place."

"True, go on," Dylan gestured.

"We should join forces," Rico stated.

"You have got to be kidding me," Dylan couldn't help his reaction.

"You need my forces, Dylan Hunt, your own is weakened, and you can not trust those Resistors you have teamed up with, if you really want to get Seamus Harper back," Rico paused for a moment. "Then you have to accept my help."

"What do you propose?"

"I am transmitting co-ordinates, you will meet me in one hour to agree my plan, in three hours we will join the fight in taking control of the palace," Rico stated.

"You appear to have everything in hand, so why do you need my help?" Dylan asked.

"Because it's the last thing the Resistors will expect, the two of us, supposed enemies working to stop the takeover of the Yussuf pride's main stronghold," Rico stated.

"What are your plans for Yussuf?" Dylan was intrigued.

"I plan to take command of his pride, rename them and give this system the authority it deserves," Rico announced. "And Captain Hunt, I want you to guide me, I accept that my age and experience work against me but with your guidance I know I could do good things for this system and its people."

Dylan took a moment to check Rico's reactions, looking for any sign of a lie or bluff. This was the same guy who blinded Harper, and tortured him, simply because Harper saved Yussuf's life. How could he trust him, when he has already displayed power hungry tendencies by placing a bounty on Harper's head? The kid however was showing signs of accepting that he was still young, with a lot to learn and Dylan couldn't help feeling the temptation to try and mould the kid into a leader, but it seemed too risky to start now.

"Give me full command of the mission, including making all the final decisions, with full co-operation and I will consider your request," Dylan finally decided.

Rico now took some time to think, he seemed initially to react negatively to Dylan's words but soon relaxed again. "I would be willing to hand over command, so long as you give me some credit and respect."

"You earn respect," Dylan pointed out, and then checked his console. "We have received coordinates, so we'll talk more in an hour, Dylan out."

Dylan sighed, as holo Rommie appeared in front of his console. "You're not considering his request are you?"

"Rommie, I have to consider it," Dylan stated. "Like Colin, he has asked to learn from me, my command techniques, maybe this is an opportunity to pass on my beliefs and idealisms."

"You just like the attention," Rommie smiled.

"It's nice that these people acknowledge my skills," Dylan defended.

"It's strange, that two people from two different walks of life have made the same request in the space of a few hours," Rommie observed.

"It could be coincidence, but the way my life has been lately I'm beginning to think that coincidence is a myth," Dylan frowned. "We'll hear Rico out; he could hold the best chance we have of getting Harper back, if nothing else."

"That is true, if the Resistors do plan on claiming the bounty on Harper," Rommie agreed.

"Rico is right on one thing, the last thing the new Resistors will consider is us joining forces with Rico's faction," Dylan partly smiled.

"Dylan, up until a few minutes ago it was the last thing I considered we'd do," Rommie noted, crossing her arms.

"Which makes it a very tempting plan, don't you think?" Dylan had a boyish bounce in his step now, as he moved towards the exit to inform the others of the developments, as Rommie flashed out of sight.

* * *

Harper clenched his eyes shut as another wave of electricity flowed through him, originating in his temples. His body tensed painfully against the chains that held his upper body in position, and he held his breath after the current stopped, before semi collapsing into the chains to recover.

Vaguely aware of the cell door opening, Harper tried to focus and made out more defined shapes as they entered the cell, three people had arrived. Too exhausted to pay them any more attention, he let his head drop, hoping that the distraction the visitors made was enough to give him time to recover.

"Dr Richter, I'm glad you could make it," John stood up and greeted the doctor, who had been led into the cell by a guard, he then saw the woman. "And you must be Darla, come to check the cargo?"

Darla ignored John, and walked around Harper, seeing that he was semi-conscious and probably unawares of her, or anyone's presence in the cell, trapped in his own hell of torture.

"How has the shock treatment worked?" Richter then asked, moving towards Harper now.

"Not sure, haven't asked," John shrugged.

"Why is he strung up like this?" Richter then seemed to notice Harper's stance for the first time, and instantly realised the situation. "You were only supposed to be encouraging his sight with small pulses of electricity to stimulate the lens!"

"Listen, Doc, this little guy is still our prisoner," John defended and pulled Harper's head up by his hair. "We treat him like one, ok?"

Richter glared at the Resistor before looking at Harper, who looked numbed to the pain as he simply closed his eyes, even though John had a fistful of his hair in a tight grip.

"Sleep," John then declared with a brief touch on his forehead, and Harper immediately slumped. "You," John gestured to Richter. "Check him."

Richter was clearly not happy, but unable to protest he moved and kneeled down in front of Harper. "Has he experienced any fits since he arrived here?"

"I don't know," John spat almost. "I just got here myself."

"Maybe if you hadn't fried my patient I could have asked him myself!" Richter sneered, as he took care to lift Harper's chin up. "Can I at least release him from these chains?"

"No!" John yelled. "Now quit your whining, check his stupid eyes and get the hell out of here!"

Richter took a deep breath, and continued his examination. Gently the doctor adjusted his position until he was able to open Harper's eyes, taking a cautionary look he seemed unconcerned, almost pleased with the progress. "Where is the bandage that was supposed to still be covering his eyes?"

"He lost it," John mocked.

"Well considering his loss, it appears his eyes have not been too affected by the light," Richter observed. "Can you at least wake him up so I can observe how he is seeing things?"

"If we must," John complained and placed his hand briefly on Harper's forehead, simply saying the words 'wake', and Harper was suddenly aware again, if still a little groggy.

"Seamus?" Richter spoke.

"Who is it?" Harper slurred, seeming to recognise the voice.

"Open your eyes, tell me," Richter instructed and Harper slowly lifted his head and wearily opened his eyes. "What do you see?"

Harper squinted a little and took his time to answer. "I see," he began and paused. "A dead man."

John couldn't help but laugh, as Richter looked on unsure. "Do you know who I am?" he asked.

"You betrayed me, bastard," Harper snapped. "But I don't recall how or why," Harper tiredly added, losing his anger quickly.

"He's fighting his programming," Darla now observed with concern. "Remembering things, you told me he was cleaned out."

"It's bound to happen, this kid is a bright one," Richter seemed to be joyous with his statement.

"Don't panic, confusion only makes him more vulnerable to your plans," John assured her.

"Seamus," Richter spoke to get Harper's focus back on him. "Follow my finger," Richter instructed, and moved his finger in various directions in front of Harper and appeared pleased when the human's eyes tracked his movements. "Very good," he enthused. "Are you seeing any sharpness in your sight or is it completely blurred?"

"Flashes," Harper wearily answered. "Sometimes everything is in focus again for split seconds, freaks me out a bit but I'm getting use to it, it's happening more often now," he stated, leaning heavily into his chains no longer feeling the pain.

"I'm going to administer some eye drops," Richter spoke as he retrieved the drops from the guard. "It'll clear up some of the mess and fuzziness, and help your eyes to naturally focus after your surgery, hopefully some of the shocks you received have done their job, sorry about the obvious misunderstanding," Richter glared at John now with contempt.

"Just get on with it," John complained, pacing impatiently.

Richter carefully administered the drops and Harper blinked several times, keeping his eyes shut finally, as the stinging sensation remained.

"Give it a few minutes to settle," Richter was then dragged away.

"So?" John asked.

"In an hour or so we should see an improvement, enough that he'll be able to see enough to no longer be classed as blind," Richter determined.

"Good," John stressed. "Now get the hell out of here, you're work is done for the moment."

"What are you going to do?" Richter asked, whilst glancing at Harper who remained with his eyes clenched shut still trapped in his restraints.

"Going to have a little play with the kludge," John suggested and gestured to the guards to remove Richter. "Don't worry; he'll still be here in a couple of hours for you to do a final check on."

"Just make sure he is," Richter sneered.

"Or what?" John mocked. "Besides, we wouldn't have dragged your sorry ass down here if we were just planning on killing him, we need this kludge and it just makes life easier for him to see by himself."

Richter was secured and then dragged out of the cell by the guard, before John turned his attention back to Harper. He placed his hand on Harper's forehead and ordered him to sleep once more. "Seamus, from now on every touch you feel on your skin," John decided and ran his finger along the back of Harper's shoulders, tracing the outline of the blades. "Will feel like your skin is being sliced open, every hit will feel like you've been shot," he stated and brought his now clench fist down hard against Harper's back. "And when a touch lasts more than a couple of seconds it will feel like you're being burnt," he finished, placing the flat of his hand against Harper's skin.

John then placed his hand on Harper's forehead, ordering him to wake and the human immediately woke up.

"This is too much fun," Darla spoke with joy. "Wait until I tell Rico about this," she beamed sadistically.

"Let's test it out," John said with glee and without a second thought he ran his finger quickly across Harper's back, and the human's scream was more than enough evidence that the suggestion had worked. "Less mess to clean up this way," John then remarked. "For the same result," he smiled.

"No damage, oh this could go on for months," Darla beamed and to test the response, Darla then placed her hand under Harper's hunched over body, flat against his chest, then feeling the vibrations on her hand, as Harper screamed out in agony as if being burned alive.

* * *

The room was silent, on one side of the table Dylan glanced at Beka and saw her staring intently at Rico, who sat opposite them. They had been talking for a little over an hour, and now it was time to decide how they would proceed. They were on a small moon base, an abandoned settlement that had been scanned and confirmed as a safe location for a first meeting to take place with Rico.

Dylan cleared his throat before speaking. "I will help you," Dylan finally spoke, but quickly continued. "But our first priority will be Harper, we safely retrieve our crewman and then we will concentrate on your brother and reclaiming the palace from the Resistors."

Rico only smirked in response. "Then we have no deal."

"That's the best I can do," Dylan stood his ground.

"Basically we do not trust you," Beka supported. "You have given us no reason to trust you, I still see you as the man who blinded Harper and nothing else," she got to her feet and stood by Dylan's chair.

"You will not get Harper back without my help, I can assure you," Rico now stood up, and there was something in the tone of his voice that caught Dylan's attention.

"You sound as though you know that to be a fact," Dylan observed calmly.

"I know the meeting point of the exchange," Rico simply answered, and if you do not help me I will send thirteen decoy ships and not even the Andromeda would be able to track all thirteen to the correct meeting point."

"Only one ship will leave the palace with Harper," Dylan noted.

"Actually five will leave, four will be decoys," Rico half smiled.

"But you don't have Trance, we do, she's good at guessing games," Beka now smirked in defiance.

Rico was silent now, unsure of Beka's claims. "Then I guess this concludes our possible alliance, I truly thought you were intelligent Dylan Hunt, a man worthy of my respect and to learn from, but you are nothing but a coward," he stated.

Dylan got to his feet. "You take Harper then, if you desire him that much but with Yussuf's tyranny at an end in this system he is worthless to you, so whilst you occupy your time in trying to evade us in your pointless plans, we'll be down on the planet, capturing your brother to ensure Harper's safe return."

Dylan gestured to Beka to move, and they headed towards the door.

"You would let me simply disappear with your crew member?" Rico tested.

"In the same way you leave your brother vulnerable to our taking," Dylan stated. "You really do have a lot to learn, kid," Dylan added.

Rico now smiled and he turned to one of his associates. "Has Darla checked in?"

The associate glanced at Dylan before answering. "She is with the kludge; it sounds like she's having too much fun, sir."

Beka and Dylan turned around, knowing that Rico was revealing something important.

"Really?" Rico smiled. "And what about my brother?"

"She tells us that on receipt of the bounty, the Resistors will give us both the kludge and your brother," the associate informed them. "In fact, I took the opportunity to copy the transmission to flexi, should you want to share or prove the claim."

"Good, good, maybe the good Captain Hunt would be interested in that," Rico was grinning now, unable to contain himself.

"Why the hell did you call us here, you never had any intention of joining us," Dylan now realised, as he snatched the flexi.

"I needed to see who I was up against, you will never see Harper again, we already have him," Rico declared. "And the palace, that's already under my control."

Dylan looked at Beka before returning his attention to Rico. "How is that so?"

"Who do you think formed the Resistors?" Rico stated arrogantly. "Who do you think gave them the information on the palace, on Yussuf and on how to defeat the tyrant, I worked with that man since I was a boy and have planned this for a long while," Rico stressed. "And when Yussuf betrayed my brother over some stupid kludge, I knew I had to bring the Resistors into the public eye and the only way to disguise my involvement with them was to encourage them to join those lame uprisers from the prison breaks you evoked, and other disgruntled groups from this sector," he claimed with joy.

"This system is completely messed up," Beka remarked.

"It was my luck that one part of the uprisers were pro-Seamus Harper, and from them I was able to learn all I needed to know about him, and his importance to your ship," Rico's expression changed to one of determination. "Captain Hunt, now I know my enemy, I would suggest you keep a very close eye on your lovely ship, it's my next target."

"Over my dead body," Dylan sneered.

"Exactly how I plan it," Rico responded with calm.

"Let's get back to the Andromeda, and away from this dump, before I throw up from listening to too much crap," Beka turned to leave, and Dylan wasted no time in following her.

Rico simply smiled with amusement before turning to his associates. "We need to act fast, I want Harper brought to my ship now, no more games and send more troops down to the palace to assist," Rico then added. "I have a feeling that Captain Hunt might be a little pissed off right now," he grinned, enjoying his moment for all it was worth. "I can not wait until we have the Andromeda Ascendant as our flagship of the new pride."

"Have you decided on a name for your pride yet?" the associate asked.

"The Ricosta Pride," Rico announced, and then grinned. "Until I think of something better, if such a thing exists."

TBC


	28. Chapter 28

Part 28

"It's not true!" Colin stormed, and walked faster through the corridors of the Andromeda with Dylan and Beka in pursuit.

"Colin, stop for a moment," Beka requested calmly.

"No!" Colin stressed, spinning round. "Rico was not the creator of the Resistors; I can not believe that, I refuse to believe it was all a sham!"

"We're not saying he was, but he did infiltrate your own group with his people and it's those people who have now broken away, and taken your name to make their mark," Dylan stated. "And they are fooling everyone into thinking they have freed this system when they are just going to bring this system down in the same way Yussuf did," Dylan further explained with care.

Colin finally stopped walking and took some deep breaths, his hands on his hips. "No one will believe this," he simply said.

"The whole system is having a party due to Yussuf's downfall, they are not ready to know the truth," Beka agreed.

"So what do we do?" Colin asked with frustration. "I feel like a freaking fool, a gullible one at that," he sighed. "How did this happen?"

"Rico saw an opportunity and took it," Dylan stated. "When we freed a number of people from those camps, all with a grudge against Yussuf, Rico found likeminded people who wanted something of Yussuf, only he wanted revenge, when you wanted justice," Dylan explained. "That is why you clashed, and that is why the two parties never completely saw eye to eye and they took the first opportunity they could to break away, once they got what they wanted."

"Information on Seamus Harper, and this ship," Colin sighed. "I've been made a fool of, and I don't like that," he stressed. "We have fought so hard to make our voices heard, to let people know Yussuf's games and now we inadvertently have a new player in town as a result."

"Colin, I know you're rediscovering your Nietzschean tendencies but being sensitive about your own pride being bashed isn't a welcome one just now, we need to rise above what happened and deal with how we're going to make this right again," Beka spoke with compassion.

"And how the hell do we begin to make this right?" Colin demanded.

"We need to defeat Rico and his new Resistors," Dylan simply answered.

"We needed to defeat Yussuf and that was a tough ask, and now we have to simply defeat the ones who have defeated Yussuf?" Colin gestured with disbelief.

"Colin," Beka stepped forward with some caution. "Your father, who is he?"

"What?" Colin spoke, completely taken aback.

"You told me your father worked for Yussuf, when we were in the camp, does he still work for Yussuf?" Beka asked.

"I don't care, he's not my father, that man determined that I remained imprisoned for ten years, he means nothing to me!" Colin responded.

"We have to pull on any resources we could have at our disposal," Dylan spoke up.

"We can not rely on my father, he's been Yussuf's flunky for most of his life," Colin almost spat. "Besides, like all of Yussuf's flunkies he's imprisoned now."

"I plan to try and free Yussuf and his men," Dylan then announced.

"What?" Colin couldn't hide his anger. "You can not do that!"

"We take Yussuf away from Rico and they have nothing, we'll take away their advantage," Dylan responded.

"Yussuf will not appreciate his freedom, he'll abuse it and you'll be the ones who pay, as will this whole system," Colin feared.

"Harper saved Yussuf's life, and even though he was an escaped slave, Yussuf didn't kill him, or even pursue him," Dylan offered. "I believe if we rescue Yussuf, he will listen to us, and give us the means by which to lessen the threat of Rico, who would know Rico better than Yussuf?"

Colin considered the plan, and had to admit that it made some sense, but he still didn't like the idea of rescuing the tyrant. "Why do you want to know my father?"

"Because your father agreed to work for Yussuf because of you," Beka softly spoke. "And I suspect if you ask him to support you in this fight, he will, and hopefully he might convince others too, so how close to Yussuf is he?"

Colin looked uncomfortable as he considered answering the question. "He's Yussuf's head chief, nothing important."

"I'd say that's important, and element of trust must exist when it comes to food," Dylan stated.

"He should have poisoned him," Colin bit back.

"But he didn't, because of you," Beka reminded him.

"Colin, I appreciate your feelings here but we need to do this, you must see that, we need to rescue Yussuf and free his people from the siege," Dylan stated firmly. "We need to show Rico that he does not hold all of the cards."

"How will this help Harper, or stop Rico setting his sights on this ship?" Colin asked with confusion.

"I'm not sure yet," Dylan admitted. "But we have to do something, and we have to show some defiance to Rico, and we have to act soon, we depart in an hour so make sure your men are ready."

"They are ready, but I'm not sure they will be happy in a mission to rescue Yussuf," Colin warned.

"This is no longer about Yussuf, Colin, it's about defeating Rico to ensure this system remains free," Dylan stressed. "Yussuf will now know he's no longer untouchable, and his humiliation has been extreme with pictures of his capture being beamed across the sector, and he will no longer have the control he once had."

Colin simply nodded his head, clearly troubled but willing to go along with Dylan's plans as he turned to leave, and headed towards the hanger bay where his men were gathered.

* * *

Harper woke up with a start, and sat up. The first thing he heard was the chains, and then felt his wrists secured tightly by heavy metal cuffs, with no give. With panic Harper suddenly realised he was looking at his wrists, his breathing quickened as he made out the detail, the cuffs around his wrists went from his hands half way up his forearm and connected together to secure his arms and his hands were forced into a prayer position almost. He stared at his own hands, flexed them to be sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing, and then finally accepted that his sight had returned.

He took everything in around him, the thin sheets on his bunk, the detail on the walls, that appeared to be metallic and he could hear the low hum of engines now, he was on a ship. Calming down, Harper eased his breathing as he continued to just look at everything in the room, that could be a cell but there were no bars, just a heavy looking door, and he couldn't believe he could see again, his sight was completely in focus for the first time in months.

He looked down at himself, he was cold and saw that he was missing his shirt still and wearing just a pair of cargos. He got to his feet, a little unsteady at first and he attempted to move a few steps forward, needing to check the door but having only gone a short distance Harper lost his footing and fell to his knees, barely managing to break his fall with his secured hands. Something had snagged his ankle and he checked back to see a metallic rope attached to an ankle cuff that was around his right leg, the other end was secured to the wall. The chain from his wrists also connected to the rope, Harper realised, and fear of being contained gripped him.

Sitting up, Harper tested the rope and it wasn't going to move anytime soon, and it gave him a very small area that he could utilise within the already small room. Panic rose inside him, he had no chance of escape whilst he was trapped like this, and then he considered something else, that had only just occurred to him.

"Where the hell am I?" he wondered out loud, sat on the floor as he looked around, still getting use to the return of his sight.

The pains of hunger then made themselves known to him, as he heard his stomach rumble and his throat felt like sandpaper. The room was too quiet, except for the low rumble of the engine, and gave Harper time to consider his situation, that in turn worked against him as his concern grew.

Suddenly the door opened, and the sounds were enough to make Harper back away quickly towards the wall. Finally the door opened, and the cell was flooded with light as someone walked in, and Harper quickly determined it was a woman.

"You're awake finally," the woman spoke as she approached.

"Who are you?" Harper asked, although she looked familiar, he couldn't remember her name.

"Do you remember who you are yet?" the woman countered.

"That depends," Harper answered.

"On what?"

"Your explanation for these," Harper rattled the chains that connected his wrists to the metallic rope.

"For you own protection, when you got here you were hysterical, we didn't know what else to do," the female explained and Harper immediately doubted her.

"Sure, because I'm a seven foot muscle bound lunatic, I'm sure I was a big threat," Harper sneered.

"OK, maybe I just like seeing you tied up, Seamus," the woman now smiled, and moved closer. "And looking helpless."

"I'm not helpless," Harper snapped.

"But you are tied up," the woman smiled. "Do you remember me yet?" she then asked, as she slowly kneeled in front of Harper.

Harper felt his personal space being invaded, and grew a little unsure by her advances towards him. "No," he admitted.

"Does the name Beka Valentine mean anything to you?" the woman asked.

Harper narrowed his eyes, as his mind did a flip, knowing he remembered that name. "Beka?" he spoke softly.

"You remember me?"

"Kinda," Harper spoke as she moved closer still and put her hands either side of him, flat against the wall, and Harper saw her forearms. "I don't remember you being an uber," he glanced nervously at her bone blades.

"A few seconds ago you didn't remember me at all, so I call that progress," the woman responded, and she lightly brushed his lips before kissing him for a few moments, then pulling away when Harper failed to respond. "What's the matter, don't tell me you're suddenly shy."

"I don't remember any of this," Harper admitted shakily.

The woman stayed close, her nose almost touching his as she barely whispered now. "You had your mind wiped, it will come back to you soon, I have you back now, Seamus," she spoke, and her hand hovered around his face without touching. "You have to help me," she then whispered. "To rescue you I had to go undercover for this madman called Rico, he knows me as Darla, and doesn't know about us," she spoke with urgency. "We will escape, when you are better, when your memory returns," she finished.

"Darla?" Harper repeated.

"It's just a cover, I don't expect you to understand with your memory loss, but you know me as Beka Valentine," she stressed.

"I remember the name," Harper spoke, as he tried to remember, and his frustration began to fester.

The woman leaned forward again, and lightly kissed him, and this time Harper found himself responding, he remembered closeness and a need like this. The touch felt familiar, he had wanted this, and needed this. Suddenly a sharp pain cut through his thoughts as his eyes snapped open, with his breath caught in his throat, the kiss was broken and it took Harper a moment to see the smile on the woman's face as she looked back at him, her finger had stroked his face.

Wanting to scream, Harper had felt as though the side of his face was being cut open, but the pain was quickly forgotten as he was once again being kissed, and the pain soon disappeared.

The cell door opened and light once again flooded the room, as a few more people walked in.

"Darla, get the hell off of him, you might catch something!"

Darla pulled away, winking at Harper to suggest he play along. "Rico, I'm just making sure our guest is comfortable."

"He's our prisoner, there's a difference," Rico stated tiredly, as if not surprised by her actions. "Now go and wash your hands, you have no idea where he's been."

"I do," Darla spoke defiantly.

"He was with that kludge Dani; do I have to tell you again?" Rico demanded.

"You are no fun," Darla complained, and reluctantly left the cell, as ordered.

Rico turned his attention to Harper. "Whatever she told you, its lies, that's the only advice I will give you, kludge."

Harper stared blankly at Rico, being able to see again was having its disadvantages, as Harper remembered clearly the man who had taken his sight away, and he backed against the wall some more, fearing the uber before him.

"Looks as though you can see again," Rico observed Harper's eyes, looking directly at him. "So I'm sure you remember who I am, and what I can do to a worthless kludge like you."

Saying nothing, Harper simply concentrated on breathing normally and trying to remain calm. Nothing was making sense, his memories felt scrambled and he had no idea what was going on, it was as if over a period of time everything he knew had been scrambled, and now he was left with nothing but missing pieces of the jigsaw to try and complete the picture.

"Now, do you remember the Andromeda yet?"

"Andromeda?" Harper repeated with only a flicker of recognition.

"We still have some work to do," Rico noted. "Bring me the equipment, it's time to try and help this poor kludge remember."

Harper frowned, looking at the uber and hearing the words he spoke about helping him, neither made sense, and his confusion grew to concerning levels. He was suddenly hauled to his feet by Rico and thrown onto the cot.

"Sit down, kludge," Rico then demanded, leaving Harper little choice but to comply, as the uber kept his hand on his right shoulder and slowly it grew more uncomfortable, almost as if it were burning his skin and Harper began to grimace.

"What's the matter, kludge?" Rico then smiled, keeping his hand on Harper's shoulder, despite Harper's best efforts to try and squirm the hold away.

"Burning," Harper finally winced when he could take it no more.

"Darla told me this was fun," Rico beamed, and then brought a fisted palm down heavily on the top of Harper's shoulder.

"Aw!" Harper screamed with the impact, feeling as though his shoulder had exploded suddenly and he fell back against the cot trying to desperately regain his composure but the pain engulfed him.

By the time Harper had recovered, the cell was filled with equipment, and despite the pain Harper was forced to sit upright again. Rico fixed a band around his forehead that was connected to the machine directly in front of Harper, who feared shocks again, seeing the wires trailing from the band.

"This won't hurt," Rico assured him. "You're going to see a number of images that will stimulate your mind with the help of a few light electrical pulses that you will hardly feel on a physical level."

"Why?" Harper questioned unsure, and with fear evident in his tone.

"It should break the programming, make you remember the Andromeda," Rico stated.

"Why?" Harper asked now, wondering the significance.

"Because you need to help me capture the ship," Rico announced.

"Why?" Harper asked again, needing to know.

"Because it's what we do, we scavenge, it's what we've always done, Seamus," Rico stated.

"You blinded me," Harper then accused, unable to understand why he would help the man who did that. "Why would I help you?"

"Seamus, don't ever believe that I like you," Rico claimed with some authority. "You have a use, you stick around but that doesn't make you above a bit of discipline on my part, I'm an uber, you're a stupid kludge, enough said."

"I'm your prisoner," Harper remembered his original words.

"You do as I say, it's how it's always been," Rico smiled. "I rescued you from Earth, you are grateful to me, you work for me and right now you have the entire schematics of the Andromeda Ascendant in that head of yours."

"I do?" Harper questioned and Rico leaned forward, roughly tapping his data port causing Harper to flinch.

"You do, and it's about time you started earning your keep again, kludge!" Rico stressed angrily, growing tired of the discussion. "So get watching, and remembering who you are, don't waste any more of my time kludge!"

Harper screamed out again, as Rico's swift touch across the back of his shoulders felt like fire and it took Harper a moment to focus again, unsure why he was so sensitive to touch suddenly. He concentrated on the images now being flashed into his mind, and felt the very light pulses of the band, as slowly he began to remember being a scavenger, even Beka Valentine, and eventually he seemed to recall the Andromeda, among other things that caused him initial confusion, but soon became clear to him.

"I remember," he spoke.

"You remember the Andromeda?" Rico asked.

"I know how to disable it," Harper confirmed, and looked at Rico. "But I don't think I work for you."

Harper suddenly felt himself being pushed back against the cot, his face gripped by Rico as his skin burned with the uber's touch. Rico's hands then moved to his throat, and Harper began to gag, unable to breath.

"You will give me the Andromeda, the sooner you do, the more comfortable you'll feel," Rico warned, and held his hands to Harper's throat a few moments longer knowing the pain he was serving Harper with his touch, as well as blocking the human's windpipe.

Finally Rico moved away, and flicked the machine still connected to Harper to work faster, with more urgency. Unable to avoid the images being flashed into his mind, Harper stopped fighting them and relaxed into a numbed slumber as his mind was filled with images to remind him of who he was.

TBC


	29. Chapter 29

Part 29

"Unit two, into position."

Dylan acknowledged the transmission, and then scanned the area. "Most of the activity is happening on the west side, units three and four secure the East and South sides, go," Dylan ordered and heard acknowledgements and then gun fire in the distance.

"Beka," Dylan then spoke. "How's it looking up there?"

Beka's voice returned over the transmission from orbit. "Units are moving in, looking strong so far, I see weapon charges, they are making good progress with little resistance, I think we've found their weak spots," she responded, viewing the battle from the Maru.

"Good, let me know of any changes," Dylan ordered and signed off. "Rhade, come in."

"Here, Dylan," Rhade returned, on a crackling transmission. "I'm inside, taken out a couple of guards on the North side, currently awaiting the opportunity to go down to the prison block in the basement."

"Good, I'm about to take my men into the battle on the west side, wish me luck," Dylan offered.

"You don't need luck, Dylan," Rhade remarked. "You need your head checked," he added quickly, before signing off.

Dylan smirked and then gestured to his men, and with a silent order, they suddenly moved forward, with all guns blazing and surprising their enemy.

* * *

"Sir!"

"What is it?" Rico demanded, he was halfway through his dinner and did not appreciate the distraction.

"A fresh attack on the palace has been launched," the officer reported. "We have lost the East and South wings."

"What?" Rico demanded, getting to his feet with anger. "So quickly? I ordered more men down to the palace to avoid this!"

"We were concentrating our efforts on the west side, sir," the officer offered. "That's where Yussuf's army have been most active."

"The prison wing, so our prisoners are still safe?" Rico checked.

"Yes, the east and south wings are residential suites only," the officer reported.

"Give those up, concentrate on ensuring we do not lose our prizes, any chance or opportunity we get to move the prisoners, take it," Rico then ordered, looking slightly flustered. "Is the Andromeda still in orbit?" he then asked.

"No sir, the Andromeda left the system an hour ago and could not be traced, we suspect as a counter measure to our threat, to protect it," the officer suggested.

"Dylan Hunt is taking our threat seriously," Rico seemed pleased. "We still have work to do on the kludge before we can do anything to his precious ship."

"Sir, your sister has been with the kludge for nearly thirty minutes," the officer then informed him.

Rico frowned, and then shook his head. "She's taking her role far too seriously, what is it with her and kludges, she disgusts me sometimes."

"I fear that her attempts to try and convince the human that she is Beka Valentine will fail, if she persists in trying to push the kludge into," the officer paused, choosing his words carefully in front of Rico. "Relations," he finished diplomatically.

"She is just teasing him, Roberto, she knows I will disown her in an instant if she goes too far," Rico warned. "Trust her she knows the kludge is gullible after what Dani did to him."

"Sir, some say that he was able to break Dani, that she actually fell for him, against all odds," Roberto warned. "No man was unable to resist her but she was able to just walk away, before she met that kludge, and Yussuf wouldn't have taken her out of action for so long, with little reason."

"I know that!" Rico yelled back, clearly more concerned than he let on. "Just keep an eye on Darla, just in case," he seethed and left the room.

Roberto slowly smiled. "You do see the kludge as a threat, interesting," he remarked softly to himself, before turning on his heals and leaving.

* * *

Harper tested his restraints once more, his arms were sore from the cuffs and he desperately wanted an escape. Sitting next to him on his bunk was the woman who claimed to be Beka Valentine, but Harper didn't know what to believe anymore, and something didn't feel right. He remembered the name, and in his mind he was sure Beka was not brunette, he vaguely remembered a blond feisty lady when he thought of Beka, not some sick sadistic Nietzschean. Nothing inside his body could believe he'd ever have any kind of relationship with an uber, no matter how hot she was, and she was hot, he considered, so instead he just sat there and tried to ignore her attentions to him.

"Do you remember Dani?"

The name sparked fireworks inside of him, and Harper was suddenly hit with images of another woman, he had seen her recently and he remembered being captured with her in the palace.

"I only mention her because I do care about you, Seamus," the women continued. "She messed with your head, has made you confused like this, I hate seeing you like this, Shay."

Harper remembered more about Dani now, a slave, and another that on the face of it he still couldn't believe he'd have a relationship with; he hated slaves almost as much as he hated Magog and Ubers. However, this time he did remember something more, he did remember being infatuated, and his stomach twisted as he clearly remembered kissing Dani, being close to her and falling for her to the point he didn't care about anything else.

"She was tricking you all along," the woman continued.

He could believe that, even though at the same time he wanted to deny it, but the anger inside of him was growing, as he considered the obvious evidence.

"It's why you're here, why I have to pretend I'm this Darla woman so I could rescue you, Seamus, I love you so much and I couldn't bear to see what that women was doing to you," she purred, her head now resting on his shoulder, causing him a slight burning discomfort where her face rested against his skin.

"Free me from these chains," Harper spoke without emotion.

"I can't," she responded.

"Darla," Harper spoke her supposed cover name. "If you want me to trust you, to believe you really are Beka, then you have to prove who you are to me, if I do love you then you have nothing to fear, right?" he reasoned. "Until you do, I will only see you as Darla, and the enemy."

"But my cover," Darla answered with an innocent tone, but Harper could see her uncertainty now and he needed to know the truth, no more games.

Harper stared at her intently. "You're not Beka Valentine, she would never keep me locked up like this." Ignoring Darla now, Harper claimed a small victory of defiance, but then to his surprise the woman revealed a key, and began to unlock the cuffs from his wrists.

"I don't have the key to the ankle restraint, Rico has that," she offered softly, almost with regret. "Seamus, I can't bear to see this distrust in you, I love you."

Confusion reigned again, as Harper stared at the woman he desperately wanted to call Darla, but doubt made him consider that she could be Beka, remembering that Dani, and Yussuf together had messed with his head.

Rubbing his wrists, Harper saw the deep red marks of irritation they had caused him. The woman took his arms and tried to sooth them, but only made them burn more and Harper snatched his hands back with a grimace.

"Sorry," the woman quickly offered. "I didn't mean to hurt you," she spoke sadly and Harper couldn't explain the feelings he felt at that time, he felt sorry his actions.

"It's ok, I'm not sure why it hurts so much when you touch me," Harper offered.

"Dani did that," she responded.

"Why?" Harper asked confused.

"She hated you, played games with you, and has made you doubt me," and Harper was beginning to see concern in the woman's eyes that suggested that maybe, just maybe, there was more to this than he considered.

Harper brought his hands to his face. "Please, just leave me."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't want to be tied up, the longer I stay here with you, the longer you can remain without those chains."

Harper sighed, and moved his hands so he could look at the woman. Taking care, relishing in being able to see again, he took in her every detail, her eyes, her smile, and even her bone blades. Tentatively he reached out and ran his hand along her forearm, needing to find some familiarity but there was none, only fear. Quickly he removed his hand and drew his knees up to his chest, holding them tightly.

"I know you're afraid, you can't remember details you rely on to be confident and assured," she spoke sincerely.

"I used to work on the Andromeda," Harper spoke quietly. "I remember that, I never worked with Rico, he didn't rescue me from Earth, but he tried to tell me otherwise."

"He's messing with your head too," the woman responded. "He does that."

"Who is this blonde lady I keep seeing in my head when I think of Beka?" Harper then asked, and turned his head to look directly at the Nietzschean, interested in her reaction. "Are you messing with my head to?"

"She's not Beka," the woman responded sadly, her look giving nothing away to suggest otherwise. "She's Dylan Hunt's other half, she can't be trusted but I always suspected you had a little flame for her, and I guess Dani did too, Dani has used her to turn you against me, but I swear to you Seamus, I am Beka Valentine," she stressed, and moved closer to him and even though her touch on his skin burned, Harper didn't flinch as she lightly kissed his face. Her affection was in stark contrast to his environment, and he tried not to respond but her persistence paid off as finally Harper moved to accept her kiss, and they embraced.

Harper pulled away a few moments later, and as much as his body screamed with her touch, feeling as though he was both burning and being cut at the same time as her hands covered his upper body, Harper was feeling himself beginning to believe her, and he desperately needed to believe in something.

"Beka," he spoke, and got her immediate attention as she smiled broadly back at him. "Give me time, I will remember, I promise," he whispered as she began to kiss him again.

"Take your time," Darla responded with a secret smile, unseen by Harper as he closed his eyes to her attentions. Moving away, Darla retrieved the cuffs and gently replaced them around Harper's wrists with no complaints from the human. "I will find you food, you must be starving," Darla offered, and saw Harper nod his head eagerly before he watched her leave the cell.

Bringing his knees back up to his chest, Harper hugged himself tightly as he rested his head on his knees. The uncertainty was starting to drag him down, and he was beginning to realise he had to do what he needed to do to survive. He didn't trust the woman, still wasn't convinced she was this Beka character, but she was desperate for him to accept her and had relieved him of his cuffs even if for a little while, and now was finding him food. For the moment, he was willing to play along with whatever these people had planned, if it meant things would get easier and begin to make sense, and he would finally get some food inside of him.

TBC


	30. Chapter 30

Part 30

Beka Valentine armed the Maru's weapon bays and then began to shower the west side of the planet with scattered fire, causing confusion and mayhem below, enough to allow Dylan and his unit the advantage.

She was just beginning to enjoy herself when the Maru's early warning alert sounded, and she scanned the area to see another ship was on a direct course with the Maru.

"Dylan, I have company," Beka called out over the open coms, and she checked the readout. "Unidentified ship," she added.

"It could be Rico's, we never got a make on his vessel," Dylan's hurried voice returned from the planet below. "You've done your job here, so get the hell out of here and only get in contact when the coast is clear."

"Call me if you need me," Beka then signed off, and turned her complete attention to moving the Maru. "Maru to the Andromeda," Beka then called out, on the secure line.

"Trance here, go ahead, Beka," Trance's calm voice returned.

"I may need some help, I think I have Rico's attentions, I'm taking evasive actions, track me," she ordered. "I don't think they know where you are, so use it to your advantage."

"Understood," Trance returned, and quickly signed off.

"Right, let's get this party started," Beka half smiled, and kicked the Maru into action as she pushed it to his limits, and scanned for the nearest slip point.

* * *

Harper woke with a start, breathing heavily as he glanced around the cell finding he was alone. Taking some deep breaths, and feeling the perspiration covering him, Harper blinked his eyes and slowly began to compose himself.

"Beka," he simply whispered, before settling back down again, wide awake, as he made sense of what he was now seeing inside his mind.

* * *

"We have the Maru in our sights, sir, but I think we've been spotted," Roberto stated, as Rico hurried onto the command deck of his vessel.

"Stay in pursuit," Rico ordered. "She'll either make a good acquisition, or she'll lead us straight to the Andromeda, either would be a good result for us."

"I'm reading various transmissions coming from the Maru," Roberto then stated. "All of which are secured, destination unknown."

"She's letting her friends know she has company," Rico guessed. "Lock weapons on the hull, let's make this more interesting."

* * *

The cell door opened and Harper looked up to see the woman trying to befriend him enter the room. She smiled sweetly, and sat next to him without word, before she placed a piece of bread and a bottle in front of him.

"It's all I could get without raising suspicion," she offered finally.

Harper took the bread and immediately broke it into smaller pieces, taking a chunk and carefully eating it, before taking a gulp of water.

"Thanks," he offered in return, grateful for the food and drink.

"I've been thinking," the woman then spoke up, and Harper glanced at her. "Maybe I'm rushing things, you were right, you need time."

"I've been thinking too," Harper then offered without emotion. "The old memory is starting to come back to me, you know, the more I think, the more I remember."

"Ok," Darla seemed cautious now, as she looked at Harper.

"I know you're not Beka Valentine, so quit the games," Harper stated firmly, avoiding her glare and focusing on the food in front of him.

"Excuse me?" Darla offered.

"You're Darla, I remember you now," Harper offered calmly, and with a casual shrug, as he finished chewing some more bread. "You're Rico's sister, and Kane, he's your older brother, right?" he continued. "Kane helped me, but you didn't want him to give me the time of day, so what is this, some kind of payback?"

Darla was silent now, but she remained sitting next to Harper and made no attempt to deny his new claims. Harper continued to eat the bread, and the silence between them remained calm, almost reassuring as they simply sat in each others company.

"My brother is a fool," Darla finally said to break the silence.

"Which one?" Harper asked.

"Rico," Darla sighed. "He wanted to kill you."

"And you wanted to," Harper looked at Darla with confusion. "Exactly what were your plans for me, because I might be getting mixed signals here," he said with a frown.

"I wanted to win your trust," Darla admitted.

"By pretending to be Beka Valentine?" Harper asked with surprise. "You might be a very nice person in a freaky Nietzschean kind of way, but you would never fill Beka's shoes, ok?"

"I wasn't sure how much you would remember, it seemed the best idea at the time," Darla offered, with a brief smile.

"Yeah, well maybe I'm tired of being made a fool of by women like you, Beka was right, I sure know how to attract the weirdoes," Harper frowned sadly, and he brought his chained wrists up to his face to rub his forehead, having finished the food and drink.

"Let me remove those," Darla offered, retrieving the key to Harper's cuffs and she swiftly removed the heavy objects. "Your wrists are looking pretty bruised now."

"Thanks for noticing, you know you could talk to your brother about all of this," Harper stressed, rubbing his sore arms, and then grimaced when Darla lightly touched his arm in comfort. "And what the hell is up with this pain whenever you touch me? The truth!" he demanded.

"Rico ordered you to be hypnotised," Darla revealed. "After we discovered Yussuf had done much the same on you."

"Hypnotised?" Harper questioned. "By who? A freaking psycho?" Harper snapped with anger, and looked away with disgust.

"I guess so," Darla frowned. "It also seemed a good idea at the time."

"Why are you even still talking to me, now I've got you sussed?" Harper then asked with angered confusion, feeling his bad mood rising but he couldn't help but notice Darla's continued attention towards him. "Not that I don't appreciate the company of a fine looking woman, but I'm still your prisoner, no matter how much you flutter those lovely eyes at me."

"Tell me, do you want out?" Darla then asked in a determined hushed whisper, as she moved to face Harper, a smile on her face.

"Of course I do, I'm your freaking prisoner!" Harper sneered, trying to avoid eye contact; he then couldn't help but notice her smile and softened his attitude slightly.

"Then continue to pretend that you think I'm Beka," Darla instructed. "I hate my brother's plan, I hate what my brother's becoming, all bossy and thinking he's my dad, I thought Kane was bad."

"Kane's a good guy," Harper offered and bit his tongue before he added 'for a Nietzshean', and he saw for the first time how young Darla was, and how immature her thought processes actually were.

"Maybe I'm only just realising that fact," Darla sighed. "Seamus, you're the only one on this ship right now that I feel I can talk to, who could possibly help me get out of this ridiculous mess, my brother is all talk and has no idea."

"Darla, in my experience, turning to the prisoner is never a good plan if you want results," Harper admitted truthfully. "What can I do? I can't even leave my cot because of these," he kicked his leg to emphasise the chain that connected him to the room.

"I didn't want this, I told Rico to use you only as a means to get the Andromeda, prisoner exchange or something, use you to get that Dylan guy to cooperate with us somehow, not this, he's made Dylan an enemy and more dangerous to us," Darla shrugged. "Giving you back your memories, it just seemed dumb to me, we should have left you how you were, it gives you the advantage so I'm putting my money on you," she half smiled, not looking at Harper.

Harper looked away for a moment, before looking back at her, in just a few words Darla had revealed so much and Harper knew he could only trust himself if he was to survive this. "Tell me one thing, what you said about Dani tricking me, was that just more mind games?"

"I can't tell you that, you have to figure that out on your own," Darla stated, without emotion. "Just remember, play along," she stressed, hearing voices outside, and just before the door opened she leaned in and kissed him. Harper only responded by closing his eyes, trying not to think about it too much, as he shut himself off from the reality of his situation.

"I sincerely hope I'm not disturbing you, although I fear I'm quite disturbed by what I am seeing," Rico announced, as he strode into the room and Darla quickly broke the kiss and moved away from Harper, going to Rico's side. "Why are the prisoners chains removed?"

Harper noticed the flash of fear in Darla's expression without word, before she composed herself. "He needed to eat, I was just making it an easier process, quicker process," she spoke quickly.

"Put them back on, he is finished now," Rico ordered. "And I fail to remember the command to feed the kludge."

"He hasn't eaten for days, Rico!" Darla now found her voice. "I assume you want him alive when you plan to take the Andromeda, right?"

Rico noticeably flinched with anger, before glaring at his sister. "Just secure him and follow me, we are in a situation and I need you on command."

As Darla knelt down in front of Harper, and secured the cuffs she briefly smiled as they locked in place. Harper watched her move away, and rested back on the cot, hoping he'd remember more of his past by the time they bothered him again, as the heavy cell door closed, leaving him alone once more.

Concentrating, Harper closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall. Escaping into his mind, Harper was going to try and find himself again. Ignoring the outside world now, Harper focused on what he did remember, taking the bits he was sure were true, and ignoring everything else, slowly and gradually he honed his mind into only believing in himself, knowing he had to get through this somehow, and he know now that he could no longer trust any of those around him.

* * *

Explosions rocked the Maru once more, and five new alarms sounded, as Beka became more angered by the situation.

"Dylan!" Beka yelled. "I can't shake the bugs, one more shot and I'm history!"

A crackling transmission was all Beka heard by return, as communications failed now, and Beka kicked them hard.

"Beka?" Dylan's voice broke through.

"I can't beat them, Dylan, I have to surrender or they'll blow me out of the sky," Beka struggled to admit the truth, as she vainly tried to return some sort of fire.

"Beka, I can call the Andromeda to assist," Dylan's urgent response came. "Just say the word, I have her one standby to help," he added firmly.

"No, if Rico wants me, he can have me, least Harper won't be alone, just don't leave me with Nietzschean scumbag for too long," Beka requested tiredly.

"I promise, Beka," Dylan began but was then his transmission cut out abruptly in a flurry of sparks.

"Damn," Beka considered her options and then sat back. "Maru to enemy vessel, come in," she transmitted over emergency channels.

"Speak," was all Beka heard by way of acknowledgement.

"You got me, I surrender," Beka frowned with a heavy sigh, and all weapon fire ceased outside, as the Maru was quickly approached by the larger vessel.

TBC


	31. Chapter 31

Part 31

Dylan moved swiftly along the corridor, staying close to the wall to avoid any surprise attention. Moments later he gave the call sign and emerging from the shadows, Rhade appeared from an unseen hiding spot.

"We must stop meeting like this, captain," Rhade spoke with a grin.

"Beka's been captured, and with her the Maru," Dylan stated gravely.

"Is she ok?"

"She accepted surrender, and she knows what she's doing," Dylan answered assuredly. "Part of me thinks she simply wanted the chance to check on and be with Harper."

"You don't think he's here?" Rhade asked, glancing up and down the passageway of the palace.

"If he was, we wouldn't be finding it so easy to make our way to the prison block," Dylan stated with a frown. "He's their key to getting the Andromeda, the rest of these prisoners are just trophy's now, Harper's on Rico's ship, I have no doubt about that."

"Do you think Harper will help them?" Rhade casually asked, as he followed Dylan further into the prison block.

"I don't think he'll have a choice, and he's the one person in this universe who knows the Andromeda better than me," Dylan stressed, as he checked the heavy door that greeted them now. "And Rhade, I don't mind admitting that I'm a little worried," he added as he tried the door, and found it didn't budge. "Rhade, a little help?"

Rhade moved beside Dylan and together they made some progress, and finally the door opened.

"Our target?" Rhade checked.

"Yussuf first and foremost, then we'll see who else we can rally to our cause, that is once we've got past the twenty odd soldiers up ahead," Dylan frowned and gestured gravely, seeing a group of soldiers prepping their weapons, and getting ready to defend their stronghold. Dylan glanced at Rhade and they took a defensive position arming their Force lance's ready for the fight.

* * *

Silently Trance observed the progress on all fronts, she had seen the transmissions showing Dylan and Rhade sneaking into the prison block whilst the rest of their forces helped Yussuf's men fight for control, without them even realising. Trance had also seen the Maru's last stand, before it was engulfed by the larger ship, and Beka was taken prisoner. Her orders had been to protect the Andromeda at all costs, and she had remained waiting for any further orders, that had so far failed to materialise.

Dylan was concerned more than he cared to admit, Trance knew this but she didn't share the same concerns. She wanted only one thing, and that was to see Harper again and if it meant helping him to take the Andromeda from Dylan, Trance was prepared to do that, for the greater good.

Taking a deep breath, Trance felt the possible futures flowing through her but her own was still uncertain, as was Harpers, and the rest of the crew. The only thing she did know was that The Andromeda was going to play a factor in her destiny, it just wasn't clear yet exactly how, but it appeared that both hers and Harper's were linked somehow.

Her true destiny was already realised in the Seefra System, and Trance smiled allowing her warmth to glow around her slightly, unknown to those crewmen still aboard with her, manning their stations. Now she was ready for life, and the next challenge that she knew would direct her to her own perfect future, and that challenge was not far away now.

* * *

"I don't know what's with him," Darla complained, talking as though the person she was speaking of was somewhere else, but Harper was sat in front of her without reaction. "Maybe you over did the mind crap?" She grabbed Harper's face and found nothing from Harper in reaction, he simply stared ahead blankly.

Rico took a calmer stance, and observed the unresponsive human. "The kludge is still with us, he's just choosing to ignore us, they are like that, human scum," he seethed. "I can see it in his eyes; he is hearing our every word."

"I had him, brother, he was mine," Darla stressed with frustration, not telling her brother that Harper had remembered her. Still believing she couldn't be heard by the human, Darla moved to sit beside Harper, wrapping her arm around his shoulders, and her hand then playfully stroked his hair. "I blame you for this," she then added like a spoilt child, and her anger to Harper's lack of response to her touch was obvious.

"You went too far, Darla, I told you it was a bad idea to pretend to be that woman that he's fond of," Rico argued, then took a deep breath. "It doesn't matter, and will you get the hell away from him!"

"That's Yussuf speaking, Rico, kludges are not unclean," Darla offered defiantly without moving, remaining where she was, close to Harper.

The cell door opened and in seconds Beka Valentine was dragged in, fighting her guards as she was dumped unceremoniously on the floor.

"Harper!" Beka recognised immediately but before she could wait for an answer, Rico grabbed her hair. "Ow!" she screamed angrily.

"We meet again, Miss Valentine," Rico sneered. "You won't be leaving so easily this time."

"But I will leave," Beka stressed. "And with Harper."

Rico simply laughed at her defiance. "Secure her to the wall like the animal she is," he ordered arrogantly.

"Do you want her wrists secured too?" the guard asked.

"No, just by her ankle, she won't cause us any trouble whilst her precious kludge is sat opposite, in the state he's in," Rico confidently spoke. "Darla, come," he barked.

"Staying," Darla spoke, staring at Beka as she was secured to the opposite bunk by the ankle, the long chain reaching to the far wall with little give.

Once secured the two guards, with Rico, left the room and the silence followed as Darla and Beka sized each other up.

"So you're Beka Valentine," Darla partially smiled. "Seamus has spoken of you, if only briefly."

"Seamus," Beka ignored Darla, with her full attention on the human, having already noticed his lack of reaction to anything. "Harper, speak to me, come on, it's me, it's Beka, I'm here now."

There was a flicker of a smile on Harper's face, but he said nothing in return. All the while, Darla continued to drape herself over him, and when she saw this bothered Beka, she began to lightly peck Harper on the cheek. Harper only grimaced with irritation to her touch, as it became more intense over his still bare torso.

"Stop it, get the hell off him," Beka demanded, seeing how uncomfortable Harper looked, noticing the looks of pain her friend was displaying.

"Make me," Darla challenged and Beka wasted no time in getting to her feet, only to quickly find she was unable to reach Harper's cot, the restraint around her ankle falling just short of Harper's bed frame, and she fell to her knees, as her ankle was snagged by the chain.

Darla only laughed in response, and Harper barely appeared to notice as he stared blankly ahead.

"Harper, listen to me, come on," Beka pleaded, getting as close as the chain allowed with Darla smirking back at her, from Harper's side.

Harper moved his head slightly, finally showing some sign of awareness. "Beka," he spoke evenly.

"Seamus," Beka smiled, but then watched as Darla quickly turned Harper's attention back to her, and she forced him into a kiss and embrace, and Beka couldn't help but notice the little resistance Harper showed to Darla's charms.

Beka wanted to feel sick, seeing her friend manipulated by the Nietzschean female, obviously playing him for nothing more than some petty point against her. She looked at Harper now, seeing his wrists tightly secured by heavy metal cuffs, connected to a chain that was itself secured to the chain around Harper's ankle. Like her, Harper was secured to the wall by the chain around his ankle, and an easy escape was looking unlikely.

Her engineer was in no position to do anything to stop the woman forcing herself onto him, as Darla pushed him further into the embrace and kiss, even if he wanted to stop, it would be difficult, and Beka instead tried to determine her friend's mind set. Harper appeared numb, and distant in the short time she had been there, but she couldn't see a mark on him. His arms were slightly discoloured from the cuffs but that seemed to be the only mark on his body, but she had seen him grimace with pain when Darla had touched him, only there was nothing to support that pain that she could see and fear rose inside of her.

After a few more moments, with Harper failing to completely respond to Darla, she finally broke the kiss, and stared at Harper who seemed to numbly look back at her, showing no emotion of any kind. "I need to go," Darla then announced flatly, and glanced at Beka, before quickly pecking Harper on the cheek and leaving his side finally. "I'll be back soon, don't go anywhere," she smiled and left the cell.

"Harper," Beka then spoke up, and looking clearly unimpressed. "She's playing with you."

"I know," Harper responded without emotion, and then he looked at Beka. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Beka asked dubiously.

"You look like her," He offered, avoiding Beka's stare, as she noticed something for the first time since she had arrived.

Beka stared open mouthed at Harper for a moment. "First, what?" she quizzed a little distracted, and then quickly continued. "And second, you can see again, can't you? That treatment worked, didn't it? They managed to complete it," she enthused brightly, but Harper just nodded his head not sharing her joy. "Is your sight back to normal now?"

Harper shrugged. "Yeah more or less, no more blurred or fuzzy vision," he droned with little enthusiasm.

"This is amazing, I never thought you'd see again," Beka smiled broadly, and it was clear she wanted to get closer, to embrace her friend. "But what did you mean when you said 'you look like her'?" she then asked confused.

Harper looked uncertain for a moment, and his doubt was clear. "I see someone who looks like you in my head, and I think I associate you with the name Beka but I can't be sure."

"You're making no sense, Harper," Beka stressed.

"Just don't expect me to believe you, ok?" Harper stated firmly and looked away. "Tired of the games, tired," he repeated, looking troubled.

"Harper, what have they done to you?" Beka now spoke with fear, and tested her restraints, feeling more inclined than ever to be close to her friend.

Harper brought his knees up to his chest without answer, and hugged himself whilst avoiding Beka's demanding stare.

"Seamus, look at me," Beka requested softly, and after a few moment's Harper's blue eyes found Beka's. "I am who you think I am, I am Beka Valentine and if they'd messed with your head, they've messed with the wrong person, do you hear me?" Beka stated assuredly. "They will pay, I promise you that."

Harper looked unsure, as he continued to stare at Beka, before finally looking away from her without response. The silence unnerved Beka, as she finally conceded to the fact she wouldn't get closer to Harper, so she returned to her cot, and they both simply sat in silence, as Beka's focus remained on Harper who seemed to become more troubled and even frightened.

"Harper, I'll get you out of here, and we'll fix everything, ok," Beka finally assured him, but all she received from Harper was a cold stare, that was so unlike him.

"I'll get myself out of here, by any means necessary," Harper spoke frankly.

"Harper do you remember me at all?" Beka then asked.

"If you're who you say you are, then yeah," Harper offered quietly, without conviction as his chin rested on his knees, as he continued to hug himself.

"So, why give me this cold shoulder, and this distrust?" Beka needed to know. "I've done nothing to hurt you, Seamus; I'm on your side."

Harper attempted to answer a couple of times, looking directly at Beka as if sizing her up, before the words finally made themselves heard. "My head is scrambled, I can't trust what it tells me," Harper stressed, trying to explain, his emotions becoming apparent as the strain he felt was finally revealed, and his hands clamped themselves around his head, with the chains rattling around his head. "I just hear noise, and everyone who talks to me just seems to enjoy making that noise louder," he said through gritted teeth. "Is this even real, or is it just another game?" he demanded, and Beka realised he really wasn't sure.

"Harper please, get a grip and trust your instincts, without those you will lose yourself and you can't let that happen," Beka pleaded, once more wishing she could go and hold her distressed friend. "Don't let what these monsters have done to you defeat you," she added desperately now, as she saw Harper slowly begin to rock, as his body shook indicating that he was losing his hold on his emotions, and possibly his sanity.

The cell door quickly opened, and to Beka's horror she saw Darla rush in and quickly take Harper in her arms holding him tightly, and quietly reassuring him with fondness she never thought she'd see in a Nietzschean, especially towards a human.

Beka could only watch now, as Darla smiled knowingly back at her, and it was painful to watch Harper respond to Darla's comforting actions, whilst the woman was laughing at him behind his back.

"Harper, don't let her do this to you!" Beka demanded strongly, but she could see that for the moment Harper was too lost in his own despair to care, accepting Darla's comforting hold, as if his life depended on it.

TBC


	32. Chapter 32

Part 32

The firing continued, as Dylan and Rhade pressed their bodies into the wall taking cover and waiting for the next break where they could return fire.

"There's too many of them," Rhade stressed frantically, finding a moment to return fire before quickly returning to the safety.

Dylan fired off some shots before responding. "I estimate there's seven left, I have one stun grenade, how much charge do you have left?"

"Enough," Rhade confirmed. "You could have told me you had a grenade a little earlier."

"I get my fun where I can find it these days, Rhade," Dylan remarked, before quickly activating the grenade and throwing it with precision amongst the remaining soldiers, before they could react it threw them all to the ground and the two high guard officers wasted no time in securing the area.

Once they were satisfied that the situation was diffused, Rhade and Dylan moved towards the first of the cells and saw they were empty, moving on they found another corridor and this time they found their targets.

"Yussuf," Rhade confirmed, and the occupant immediately hurried forward.

"What's going on?" Yussuf instantly demanded. "Dylan Hunt, Telemachus Rhade," he recognised. "Are you rescuing me?"

"Yes, we'll explain later and everyone else still loyal to Yussuf, you are welcome to join us," Dylan declared loudly, seeing others were now focused on them from their cells and there were low rumbles of support.

Dylan nodded towards Rhade, and together they began firing at the locks to free the prisoners. They were just freeing the last of the wives when the sound of weapons being armed was heard, and the area fell silent. Slowly Dylan turned fearing the worse, but Yussuf was first to react.

"Kane," Yussuf spoke.

"Sir," Kane responded, lowering his weapon, seeing the uncertainty. "I'm still loyal to you," he confirmed.

"But your brother," Yussuf sounded confused, and a little suspicious.

"Needs to be told once and for all that this universe does not operate on his whim," Kane declared. "They think I'm on my way to join them, but I killed my guards and I returned here."

"Welcome to our rebellion," Dylan stepped forward, making it clear that he was in charge of this mission, and Kane responded by lowering his weapon and offering his hand out of respect.

"Is this everyone?" Kane asked.

"There's one more," Rhade spoke up, and Dylan looked at him unsure. "Dani, she's here somewhere."

"Dani, yes, we must find Dani," Yussuf agreed. "She was with the human, Harper."

"Harper is no longer here," Dylan stated. "Rico has taken him, he is planning on taking the Andromeda, Yussuf, we need transport if we're to get you to safety," he added.

Dylan didn't miss the glances that were exchanged between Yussuf and a couple of his officers, knowing that it was probable that somewhere along the line Yussuf had had similar plans for his ship, but he ignored it for the moment.

"There is a vessel prepped to go, we were planning on escaping when we were overwhelmed," Yussuf explained.

"My brother would know the security detail for an emergency evacuation, but it's a risk we need to take to escape this place," Kane offered with a frown. "Follow me, Captain Hunt," Kane gestured. "I know where they are keeping Dani, and then I will lead you to the ship."

* * *

Slowly his eyes opened, and he took a deep breath as awareness returned to him. With a pained grunt, Harper quickly moved the Nietzschean who had draped herself over him, feeling as though his skin was suddenly on fire.

"Seamus?" Beka's voice sounded from across the room.

Harper blinked his eyes and in a moment of clarity and clear thought he saw his friend for what seemed the first time. "Boss," he simply answered with a hint of confusion.

"Thank god you recognise me, you were really scaring me," Beka said with relief, as she moved forward as far as her chain allowed.

"Sorry," Harper offered meekly, and pushed Darla the rest of the way off him, before rubbing his head. Rolling his shoulders, Harper attempted to stretch his tired limbs, as much as the restraints allowed.

"Seamus, talk to me," Beka asked. "What's going on?"

Harper appeared confused, and simply shrugged his shoulders, before giving it some more thought. "You tell me," he offered finally, and then he got to his feet.

Beka was quickly to her feet, now Harper had moved away from his cot she was about to embrace Harper and she wasted no time in doing so.

"Ow!" Harper screamed out as Beka held him, and she quickly backed off as he struggled out of her hold and stumbled back only just managing to stay on his feet, looking flustered.

"What is it?" Beka asked with concern. "Harper, what did I do?"

Harper took some calming breaths, and then looked at Beka. "You can't touch me, they did something to my head," he panted, and rolled his shoulders again. "Man, that hurt," he complained with a grimace.

"Sorry, I've just wanted to do that since I got here," Beka attempted to explain.

"Hurt me?" Harper questioned bitterly, and moved to the other side of the cell.

"No!" Beka protested, and her tone was enough to make Harper back down as he looked back at her.

"You weren't to know," He offered in a mumble, though his expression still showed a glimmer of distrust.

As a distraction, Harper tested the metal cuffs around his wrists, ignoring the pain it caused him; his actions became more frantic as the cuffs refused to move.

"Harper, stop that," Beka requested. "You'll just make it worse," she offered, seeing the bruised skin around the cuffs, and was about to touch Harper's forearms, before remembering his words seeing him instinctively shirk away.

"Dani is doing my head in," Harper remarked, glancing at Darla.

"Dani?" Beka checked.

"She won't leave me alone, stupid uber thinks she can play games with me," Harper continued, glaring at Darla.

"That's Darla, Harper, not Dani," Beka corrected him.

Harper looked at her with agitation, which then turned to confusion. "Whatever, still doing my head in," he spoke quickly, moving around the cell as much as his chained leg allowed.

"Harper, sit down," Beka suggested.

"Been sat down for too long, need to move," he stressed, and continued pacing the small area, with his chains dragging around him. "Cold," he then commented and tried to hunch his shoulders as he walked for warmth.

"You're not exactly wearing much," Beka frowned, seeing him in just shorts. "Ideal for the beach, but here, can't be good," she added.

"The beach," Harper stopped suddenly, and seemed lost for the moment. "I used to like the beach."

"You still do, nothing has changed, Seamus," Beka stated. "Please, will you just sit down?" she asked, he was making her nervous with his pacing, he didn't appear focused as all.

To her surprise Harper did as she asked, and sat on the edge of his bed, glancing at the still sleeping Darla before he looked at Beka once more. "She said she was you," Harper finally spoke, in a calmer voice.

"Darla said she was me?" Beka checked unsure.

"Tried to trick me," Harper continued, his eyes searching Beka now, and she saw his uncertainty.

"You've really had a number done on you, haven't you," Beka sighed now, sensing her friend's distrust and confusion.

"You're Beka Valentine," Harper determined.

"Correct, your friend," Beka smiled fondly.

"I knew that," Harper smirked now, relaxing slightly. "And this is Dani."

"Darla," Beka quickly corrected.

"Darla," Harper seemed mad at himself for the mix up. "She's Rico's sister, she wants my help."

"Help for what?"

"Same thing everyone wants, you, her, Dani, you all want the same thing," Harper got to his feet again, and started pacing once more.

"And what's that?" Beka asked intrigued by his comparison.

"The Andromeda," Harper stated. "That's why you're here isn't it? You want me to take you there too."

"There's a difference, Harper," Beka now got to her feet. "I already have a claim on the Andromeda, Darla and Dani don't and would use you to bully their way onto the ship, I don't have to, I'm allowed on board."

Harper checked her expression, and then seemed to consider her response. "I used to work on the Andromeda, right?"

"You still do," Beka responded. "We need to return home, Harper."

"How?" Harper asked, just as Darla began to stir and wake up.

"We'll talk later," Beka gestured to the waking female, and she returned to her cot, leaving Harper slightly confused as he turned to Darla.

"Hey," Darla smiled as she pushed herself up. "Talking about me?"

"Yeah," Harper answered with a sneer, still pacing around his cot. "Got nothing better to do than bad mouth ubers, it's my favourite past time."

Beka looked at Harper with wide eyes, knowing that wasn't the best tactic, as Darla got to her feet and stood opposite the shorter human stopping him for a moment. Darla's hand came up and she brushed it through his hair, before she brought her hand down making sure her bone blades came close to his face.

"There's a reason our kinds don't usually get on, Harper," Darla warned, and Harper froze momentarily. "Good job we do," she added, grabbing the back of his head by the hair and then kissing him, her manner more taunting than loving.

Looking away, knowing that if she didn't she would do something she would later regret, Beka quietly seethed until she heard Darla move away and leave the cell.

"Don't say it," Harper pre-empted as he kicked the ground, watching as the chain attached to his ankle scooted across the floor.

"I don't have to, Harper," Beka stated and got to her feet. "But we have to get you out of this crazy mixed up situation, and soon, we don't want her getting bored of her new toy," she added.

"Go to hell," Harper snapped, returning to his cot.

"Hey, I was joking," Beka quickly stressed. "I know you have little say in what's going on, and I would kill that woman with my bare hands right now if I could, Harper, for you."

"Don't do me any favours," Harper stated, as he curled up on his cot.

"You just don't know who to trust, do you?" Beka said sadly, as she moved from her cot to the floor and closer to Harper. "I'll keep saying it, because it's true, you can trust me."

Harper glanced at Beka, and offered the smallest of smiles, all that Beka needed to see that she was breaking through finally.

"I wish I could hold you, without hurting you," Beka offered softly.

"When Dani was being you," Harper began before Beka quietly interrupted.

"Darla, Harper, the uber is Darla," She half smiled, his confusion and forgetfulness was beginning to concern her more.

"Darla, she said me and you," Harper paused before continuing. "That we were close."

"We are," Beka confirmed.

"In what way?" Harper asked.

"The best way," Beka returned brightly. "We're not lovers, I'm sure Darla tried to tell you otherwise, we friends, good trusting friends that goes way beyond romance."

Harper looked away, then after a moment he moved closer to the edge of his cot and to Beka. "I believe you," he quietly said, his voice slightly shaking and Beka had never seen her friend looking so lost and vulnerable. "I was all for just trusting myself, no one else, no help from no one and I think that's made things worse, my head hurts, I just need help," Harper admitted with a heavy sigh laced with fear, bringing his tied hands up to his face to try and hold back the emotions he felt.

"Come here," Beka gestured for him to move to the floor with her. "Maybe I can't hold you, but no stopping you holding me."

Harper looked uncertain for a moment, but he gradually moved forward and with Beka's smile looking more inviting, he slowly put his arms around the blonde captain, until he finally embraced her and found himself holding her tight.

"It's doesn't hurt," Harper whispered, not having realised how much he had needed to do something genuine like this.

"You're touching me, I guess it doesn't work in reverse," Beka said, wanting to desperately return the hug but not wanting to cause her friend more distress. "Anytime, Harper, anytime you need this."

"You sure we're not something more," Harper quipped, sounding more like the human she knew.

"Just friends," Beka reiterated. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

After a while, when Harper hadn't moved away Beka realised his breathing had slowed to a steady even pace, and he had fallen asleep. She shifted only slightly to make it a more comfortable position, and she simply watched Harper sleeping against her.

TBC


	33. Chapter 33

Part 33

The ship finally came into view, as Dylan and Rhade led the group of escaped prisoners through the tunnels to Yussuf's secret hanger bay.

"Get everyone on board," Dylan ordered as he stopped to let the others go first.

"Dylan, there are smaller one man ships over there," Rhade gestured. "Let me take one, I can do a scouting mission on Rico's ship."

"He'll shoot you out of the skies on first sight," Dylan dismissed. "I can't take that risk, I need you here."

"But Beka is a prisoner," Rhade stressed.

"As is Harper," Dylan reminded him. "And we will attempt to rescue them, just when we're more prepared."

"We could be too late by then," Rhade returned with frustration.

"We wait for Kane to get here with Dani, and then we will return to the Andromeda and plan our attack, Rhade," Dylan stated firmly.

"Can we trust the brother of Rico?" Rhade then sneered under his breath, careful not to be overheard by any of Yussuf's men.

"I think we can for exactly that reason," Dylan answered brightly.

"If Rico was my brother, I would have him hung, drawn and quartered for this shambles of a rebellion; it lacked the back bone of a true Nietzschean take over, allowing us to so easily liberate the palace in a matter of days, freeing their prisoners."

"Rico is young, his attention was elsewhere, and that's my concern now," Dylan sighed.

"The Andromeda," Rhade figured.

"He has my chief engineer and my first officer, as easily as we now have his prisoners," Dylan looked back towards the tunnel and saw two figures emerge, Kane and Dani. "Let's get ready to depart," Dylan simply said and left Rhade to check the last two passengers on.

* * *

Beka smiled as Harper began to stir, still in her arms albeit now resting against her, as she leant against the cot. She had always known Harper was a restless sleeper, but she was thankful, as it meant she had been able to adjust her sitting position a few times as he slept without disturbing him, and now he was curled up beside her, his head leaning back against her shoulder.

"Hey, sleepy, we need to talk," Beka spoke softly, encouraging him to wake.

Harper groggily groaned, coming to his senses, and shifted around looking as though he was about to make himself more comfortable, until the chains and accessories securing his arms and legs made it impossible.

"Come on, Seamus, wake up now," Beka stressed, trying to move his arm but he grimaced with her touch. "Harper," she spoke again, louder.

"Boss," Harper spoke through his sleepy haze, and suddenly he sat up and just stared at Beka with slight horror.

"It's ok, you were comfortable, a little too comfortable," Beka smirked. "I don't like waking up either, especially to this," she gestured and noticed Harper was just staring at her. "What?" she then asked, with panic. "You do remember me, right?"

"I never forgot you," Harper simply said, still carrying a strange expression, as he shifted around so he was sat facing her.

"Then quit staring," Beka requested.

"I was blind, Beka, and it felt like I couldn't see for ages," Harper simply said, before continuing, his eyes not leaving her. "Waking up and seeing you, it makes me glad I can see again." Beka didn't quite know how to react, and ended of smiling awkwardly. Harper then brought his bound hands up to her face, and he gently traced the outline of her cheek. "I haven't had a chance yet to realise what Yussuf has returned to me," he stated quietly. "I mean, just being able to see you again, how did I think I could live without this?" he stressed.

"Don't be grateful to that man, Harper, he was part of the reason you were blind in the first place," Beka warned, as she moved his hands away from her face. "And quit staring," she added again, sitting up forcing Harper to move back slightly to give her more room.

Harper moved to her side now, and settled down against the bunk. "So how do we get off this dump, boss?" he asked, sounding much more like himself to Beka's relief.

"First, we need to get out of these chains," Beka gestured, and glanced at Harper. "The only thing I can think of is Darla."

Harper paled slightly on that suggestion, but then shrugged. "She only has the key to these," he gestured by moving his arms. "She told me Rico has the keys to the ankle chains that we are both modelling."

Beka sighed. "I hate to say this, Seamus, but we do need to rid ourselves of these chains."

Harper slowly nodded his head, understanding what Beka was asking. "You're the one I trust, right?" he spoke with a smirk.

"If there was any other way," Beka began.

"I know, I know," Harper interrupted her lightly. "It's ok, I can do this, I'll get those keys."

"How?"

Harper smirked. "With the Harper wit and charm," he offered, but avoided her concerned stare.

"Just be careful, she still has bone blades, and you," Beka looked at him up and down, still only wearing shorts. "Have very little protection."

"I want out of these chains, Beka, I want out of this place," Harper said with a degree of seriousness. "I'm going to do what I have to do, I want things to make sense again and that won't happen here."

Beka reached her hand up and she lightly brushed his hair, trying to avoid causing him discomfort. "We'll get Trance to remove this whole hypnosis nonsense as well, I hate seeing you like this."

"It's not so bad now," Harper dismissed, looking away. "I might not fully remember, but I have you here now, that helps."

Beka smiled at Harper's words, knowing it was taking a certain degree of blind faith to trust her like he was. "I think you're right, we'll get you out of this place and everything will be better," she agreed.

* * *

"Where the hell is our brother?" Darla demanded angrily. "He should have been here by now."

Rico sighed and didn't look up as he spoke. "He's not coming."

"What?" Darla demanded.

"Whilst you were playing with your new kludge toy," Rico then slowly turned to face her. "I heard news that Abasi and Jafari were murdered."

"They were escorting Kane," Darla spoke with fear.

"Kane wasn't with them," Rico looked away.

"He's been taken? The commonwealth have him!" Darla assumed loudly.

"No, Darla," Rico stressed angrily. "Abasi and Jafari were killed by our brother's own hand, he's remaining loyal to Yussuf," Rico held out a flexi. "He sent us this; it confirms what I've said."

"I don't believe it," Darla spoke stubbornly.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Rico then turned back to his sister.

"We should not have been side tracked by the Andromeda!" Darla then changed topic rapidly. "It's all falling apart, brother."

"I never wanted that stupid palace, I just wanted to see Yussuf humiliated, and I got that," Rico objected.

"You let him live," Darla then spoke, almost in a growl.

"Killing him would have given Yussuf what he wanted, Darla, I want him to live with the shame of defeat," Rico countered arrogantly.

"Maybe you should call him up and find out what it feels like, you'll be feeling it yourself very soon," Darla snapped.

Darla's head snapped to the side as Rico lashed out at her. "You will not question me, sister."

"The kludge will not work for you, brother," Darla then spoke, in a sneer. "You have already lost, and the Andromeda will not be yours."

"Then whose ship will it be?" Rico challenged.

"The kludge will work for me, I will show you how a true leader gains victory," Darla stared at her brother with determination, then turned and left the room.

TBC


	34. Chapter 34

Part 34

Dylan cleared his throat and got the assembled peoples attention, the cramped conditions of the Maru at least made it easier for Dylan to communicate to the small mass of people.

"Who here has a son that was held prisoner by Yussuf in the camps?" Dylan asked loudly. Nearly ten hands went up, and Dylan frowned. "Ok, who's the cook around here?" he then asked, and only one hand remained up. "You, come with me," Dylan ordered and the man, looking a little unsure at being singled out, hesitantly followed Dylan towards command.

"Hang on," the unmistakable voice of Yussuf spoke up after Dylan. "Why do you want to speak to him, if you have something to say, speak to me!"

"Yussuf, my ship, my rules," Dylan stressed. "You're no longer in charge around here."

"I demand my own quarters," Yussuf stood defiant.

"And so would I, if this ship had separate quarters, but like everyone else you'll just have to wait until we reach the Andromeda," Dylan partially mocked. "Then everyone can have their own quarters."

Yussuf stared at Dylan for a moment, before looking away and Dylan moved with the cook, and they continued towards command.

"Yussuf doesn't take to change very well," the man Dylan had requested spoke up, and then continued talking as they walked. "My name is Sadiki, I have been Yussuf's personal chef for nearly ten years, but you asked after my son, Kosi."

"Kosi?" Dylan checked and then frowned, as they reached the command section of the Maru. "He no longer goes by that name, if this is your son," Dylan stated, producing a flexi with Colin's image.

"He has grown," Sadiki remarked, trying to mask his emotions but Dylan could see sadness mixed with pride. "I had hoped he had escaped during the breakouts, I am grateful to you for your part in that."

"Yet you remained loyal to Yussuf, you didn't attempt to find your son," Dylan remarked.

"My son made it clear he had disowned me," Sadiki returned the flexi. "I respect his wishes, we each need to find our own path and I chose mine, I wanted to be a part of the Yussuf pride."

"At the cost of your son's freedom," Dylan responded.

Sadiki took a deep breath. "Sacrifices make a man."

Dylan looked at Sadiki for a moment, unsure of whether he was talking of himself or his son, or possibly the two of them. "Your son is on the Andromeda," he finally revealed.

"Kosi?" Sadika lost some colour from his cheeks for a moment. "But, does he know I'm with you?"

"He is aware of my plans," Dylan nodded his head.

"Your plans?" Sadiki asked.

"I want you to convince those men out there to join us, not fight or doubt us," Dylan stated.

"Me?" Sadikia immediately paled. "I'm not a leader, I'm a server, I can't make those demands of people, especially not Yussuf's people, and they won't listen to me, I'm not important enough."

"You are now," Dylan put his hand on the Nietzschean's shoulder. "They either listen to you, or make themselves comfortable in my brig awaiting trail for their past actions against this sector."

Sadiki seemed to grow in height as he warmed to Dylan's proposal. "I've heard rumours you almost think like a Nietzschean," he remarked.

"Now it's time for you to act more like a Nietzschean, seize the moment," Dylan encouraged. "Your son will find it easier to work for you if you show you can do this."

"You said my son, Kosi, goes by a different name now?" Sadiki stated before Dylan could leave.

"He calls himself Colin," Dylan answered, hiding the smirk.

"Colin," Sadiki seemed less than impressed. "It sounds like a kludge name."

"It's human, Earth origins I believe," Dylan smiled. "You son was exposed to a more non-Nietzschean lifestyle whilst in the camps."

This clearly affected Sadiki, as he considered the response. "I never gave it a lot of thought, I assumed my son would remember his origins."

"Maybe to him his origins were you, I get the impression he rebelled from you, and his people," Dylan reminded him.

"Thank you," Sadiki then spoke with a change of tone.

Dylan showed surprise to the gesture of thanks. "For what?"

"Preparing me for meeting my son," Sadiki simply said. "And for giving me this opportunity, although I admit that I'm not so sure about it just yet."

"This whole situation is something I'm not comfortable with either," Dylan admitted, still sensing Sadiki's hesitation. "I'm not use to leading rebellions or getting involved in disputes of this kind, I'm usually trying to sort them out not encourage them, I'm a soldier and I work for peace, not creating more mayhem in a sector that is already in chaos."

"Then we shall work together to resolve this, and return to things we know, peace and cooking," Sadiki smiled.

"Sounds good to me," Dylan agreed, and gestured to Sadiki to walk with him, back to the gathered people to announce the new order.

* * *

Harper noticeably froze as the door to the cell opened, and he glanced at Beka from his bunk across the room. She gave him a nod of encouragement, and they both turned their attentions to Darla as she sauntered into the cell, her eyes directly focused on Harper.

Without word she moved to Harper's side, and leaned close to him with obvious intentions.

"Unlock these," Harper simply said, shaking his restrained hands, before she could go any further with her plans.

Darla pulled back, and simply stared at his hands, and after some thought she removed the key from her belt and promptly unlocked the cuffs, watching as they fell on the bed. Harper immediately rubbed his red raw wrists, seeing the bruising had discoloured his entire lower arms and part of his hands.

"You don't give the orders, just a reminder, Harper," Darla then lightly warned, as she moved closer.

Harper seemed uncertain, as Darla lightly kissed his face before he brought his hands to her shoulders, and began returning her attentions with gentle strokes along her upper arms. "I want to give you some loving back, babe," Harper softly spoke between kisses. "Can't do that with those stupid chains distracting me."

Suddenly the cell door flew open, and Beka was in part grateful for the distraction from the two supposed love birds. Her gratitude was soon replaced by concern as two Nietzscheans hauled Harper away from Darla, and practically threw him across the room and she could only watch as Harper yelled in agony when the chain around his ankle sharply stopped his rapid momentum.

Before Beka could even ask Harper if he was ok, seeing him clutching for his ankle, one of the Nietzschean guards had hauled him to his feet and pressed him into the back wall.

"Whats," Harper gasped, catching his breath. "What's going on?" he finally managed.

"Rico's decided you're getting too familiar with his sister," the guard returned gruffly.

"Tell Rico he can go to hell," Darla stated loudly, and Beka noticed for the first time that the other guard was now securing Darla, not letting her leave his grasp as she struggled frantically.

"You will be punished," the guard continued speaking to Harper.

"Not if he wants my help getting the Andromeda," Harper sneered defiantly.

The guard pushed Harper back against the wall before bringing his fist down heavily across the human's face, sending him dazed to the floor. Holding him down, as Harper recovered, the guard unlocked the chain around Harper's ankle, before picking the prisoner up and putting him over his shoulder.

Beka moved from her cot, protesting at the treatment Harper was getting but she was simply pushed back onto her cot by the guard as he passed. Over his shoulder Harper lifted his head, and to Beka's surprise he was smiling. Confused, Beka tried to determine Harper's reasons, and then as the guard restraining Darla left the cell, followed by the guard carrying Harper, she realised why, as unknown to both guards Harper threw her the key he had niftily stolen from the Nietzschean, Beka guessed shortly after he had unlocked the chain from Harper's ankle.

Beka caught it easily, and couldn't help the grin she returned, as the cell door was closed, but as Harper was taken away, she soon lost her smile. With urgency she released her own ankle from the chains, and quickly got to her feet, moving to the door. Examining the panel, Beka had been in enough freighters and ships to know most of the systems they used, and this one was no different.

With a well placed elbow into the wall unit, Beka forced the panel to reveal its inner workings and she swiftly began to rearrange the wires, and in no time the door swished open.

TBC


	35. Chapter 35

Part 35

The eager young Nietzschean raced down the corridor and abruptly stopped, awaiting Rico to acknowledge him.

"Sir," the young man spoke, as Rico gestured to him. "We have tracked Yussuf's ship to the Andromeda; we have our target's co-ordinates."

"Excellent," Rico enthused. "Dismissed," he gestured and turned to Roberto who sat on at the meeting table. "I want you to deal with that kludge Harper, and also ensure my sister stays locked up, so when we claim the Andromeda she can admire our victory from their lovely brigs."

"Your sister is young, Rico," Roberto defended. "She doesn't understand the complex nature of winning a battle."

"She was going to twist the kludges mind to her way of thinking, and as you've already determined, that is the wrong way," Rico explained. "I will not have my mission compromised."

"A wise move," Roberto agreed and got to his feet. "I will make sure the kludge is ready to squeak when the time comes to take the Andromeda."

Rico smiled with trust towards Roberto, and watched his good friend leave his office, knowing it was just a matter of time now.

* * *

Harper had tested every wall but there was no give, or escape. He was alone in a square room, that was located within a more interesting room full of consoles that he could hack, but Harper had no access to that room due to the heavily locked door. The room he was in was probably once a store of some kind, Harper had determined as he once again checked the ship's ventilation mechanisms. Controlled environments usually mean air shafts, but this ship was well designed, and used pretty modern tech, to Harper's disappointment, the air vents were compact and only a mouse could escape this room in one piece.

With a slight grimace, Harper limped around the room, his ankle still throbbing painfully from his earlier altercation with the ubers. He sat down on one of two chairs in the room to give his ankle some relief, and then Harper's hand began absently drumming against the metallic table. He felt nervous, having finally believed in something, Beka had been taken away from him and he was back to believing in himself. Unless, he considered, Beka had used the gift he had stolen for her, the key, and she was on his side enough to help him escape. Beka had appeared genuine, and there was a quality in her actions towards him that suggested to Harper that she was his friend. It was so hard, with so many people messing with his head, Harper had no idea what was genuine and real, and being aware of that fact simply didn't help matters.

The door unlocked and opened, before a Nietzschean that Harper thought he recognised strode in. He had seen him before, in two different places. Roberto, Harper remembered, he had seen him briefly, but there was another name coming to mind.

"John?" Harper checked unsure, his eyes absently glancing towards the now unlocked door.

"You remember me?" Roberto smiled with amusement. "Your mind is more powerful than I gave it credit."

"That's not your name though, is it?" Harper then offered.

"It's one you remember," Roberto returned, as he sat down.

"Roberto, Rico called you that, I heard him," Harper responded confused.

"It's my name," Roberto shrugged. "But this isn't about me, kludge, it's all about you."

Harper frowned. "I was afraid of that."

"We have located the Andromeda," Roberto continued, crossing his arms. "So now you have two options, the easy way, or the hard way."

"How about the 'no freaking' way?" Harper crossed his arms now, and leant back for effect.

"The hard way it is then," Roberto confirmed without missing a beat.

* * *

The area was quiet, as Beka stepped carefully along the ships gangways knowing she had to find something to use as a weapon. So far she had only found a piece of piping that could do some damage, but she was hoping for something with a bit of firepower. As if the ship was reading her mind, Beka was suddenly drawn to a cabinet at the far end of the deck that she had walked onto, and she hurried to discover its bounty. There were very few crewmen on the ship, something that seemed odd to her considering the situation, and the size of the vessel, but she remained alert as she checked the cabinet for any weakness.

Using the piping to smash the controls on the lock, Beka quickly retrieved a couple of weapons, and armed them. Then she looked around, realising she could hear the feint sound of a struggle. With haste, she moved swiftly along the wall, alert to any dangers and with her newly acquired weapons ready.

In moments she at a cell door, and she cautiously looked inside to see Darla struggling, all tied up and with no hope of escape. With a smile Beka simply looked at her, making sure Darla noticed her but with the gag there was nothing Darla could do. Beka moved on past the bars in full view of the female, still hearing the sounds of a struggle from elsewhere, but they were closer now, and she could distinctively hear Harper.

* * *

Harper edged around the table, keeping the Nietschean the other side as they circled around the room. Their eyes were locked, neither man wanting to look away for fear of dropping his guard, as the tense atmosphere rose.

"Why make this more fun for me, kludge?" Roberto asked with an amused sneer.

"Why make it easy for you?" Harper countered, ignoring the shooting pains in his injured ankle.

The Nietzschean suddenly pushed the table forward towards Harper, who backed away quickly against the wall until the table pinned him.

"It's already too easy," Roberto mocked, as he easily grabbed Harper now trapped by the table.

Putting up a fight, Harper ignored his own pains and kicked out at the Nietzschean, managing to force the uber to let him go, and he scrambled away. Grabbing a chair now, Harper used it to defend himself against any more attacks.

"We should have kept those damn chains on you," Roberto complained now, feeling blood from a split lip. "You're animals, all of your kind!" he snapped.

"Yeah?" Harper was high on adrenaline now, his breathing fast. "I bite too," he warned, using the chair to keep the larger man away and he lunged forward only for the Nietzschean to grab the chair and use it to push Harper back with force.

Losing his balance, Harper stumbled back and fell to the floor. Looking up he saw the giant of a man descending on him, and then felt a boot connecting strongly with his ribs, as the breath was kicked out of him. Trying to shield his body, Harper was only able to partially protect his body from a series of frenzied kicks that Roberto now attacked him with. Struggling to breathe, Harper curled up against the onslaught but was unable to completely protect himself.

The door suddenly burst open and Beka didn't hesitate as she opened fire and two shots hit the attacking Nietzschean's back. Immediately Roberto stopped, and slowly turned, partially stunned by Beka's actions but then slowly he smiled as he turned back to Harper. Unsure, the human just stared at the dying Nietzschean towering over him.

"Sleep," Roberto sneered, as he waved his shaking hand and connected it to Harper's forehead, and the human's eyes immediately rolled back and he slumped back into a deep sleep just before Roberto breathed his last breath.

"Harper?" Beka hurried forward as the large Nietzschean fell onto Harper, and she hauled him off of the smaller human. "Seamus," Beka spoke again, seeing Harper was unresponsive. "Harper!" she yelled now, grabbing his shoulders and gently shaking him, his head simply rolled and he remained unconscious.

Lightly Beka slapped Harper's face, desperately trying to get some reaction from her friend. "Come on, Harper," Beka stressed, not wanting to be found with the dead uber they were sharing the room with.

Taking a deep breath, Beka considered the situation and knew now that the recently deceased uber had put Harper back into some kind of hypnotic trance. She had never truly believed it was possible, that one person could so easily control the actions of another, but Harper had been awake just a few seconds ago and now he appeared to be in a deep and strangely peaceful sleep, unable to wake up on his own, or with her more panicked efforts.

"Wake," Beka spoke but there was still no reaction from Harper, and she recalled the hand movement the uber had used when saying the word 'sleep'. She desperately needed Harper to wake up, considering they were still in the interrogation area with a dead uber for company. Slowly she composed herself, feeling a little foolish Beka knew she had to at least try, even though her own scepticism taunted her.

"Harper, when you wake," she decided to finally give it a go, trying to remember how she had seen this sort of stuff done before. "Everything you have been told in this state will be void," she considered her words with care. "You will remember who you really are and everything that you knew to be the truth, before you were first hypnotised," Beka said calmly, secretly hoping it would be enough. "And when I click my fingers, you will wake," she took a deep breath and then clicked her fingers close to Harper's face.

TBC


	36. Chapter 36

Part 36

"_Harper, when you wake," she decided to finally give it a go, trying to remember how she had seen this sort of stuff done before. "Everything you have been told in this state will be void," she considered her words with care. "You will remember who you really are and everything that you knew to be the truth, before you were first hypnotised," Beka said calmly, secretly hoping it would be enough. "And when I click my fingers, you will wake," she took a deep breath and then clicked her fingers close to Harper's face._

To her utter surprise, having not truly believed it would work, Harper stirred and blinked his eyes a few time before focusing on Beka, taking a moment as his eyes adjusted to the surroundings.

"Beka," he spoke with bewilderment. "Beka?" he then stressed with confusion becoming more aware, and he pushed himself up onto his elbows before Beka encouraged him to remain still for the moment. Harper then froze, and almost forgot to breathe. "I can freaking see, I don't get it," Harper finally managed, and then panicked with short breaths, still with Beka's hands keeping him steady.

"Harper, calm down, it's ok, everything is ok," Beka stressed quickly, her hands comforting him with small strokes, seeing his confusion as he continued to blink his eyes. "Welcome back," she then added with a smile, not wanting to believe that 'her' Harper may have come back.

"Where have I been?" Harper asked looking around, a new confusion in his expression. "I can't believe I can freaking see," he stressed, and looked at Beka again. "Where the hell am I, are we in trouble?" he then clocked the dead Nietzschean. "Should we still be here? I don't understand, what the hell is going on?"

"Let's get out of here I'll explain everything later, or try to," Beka stated with urgency.

"Ow," Harper suddenly grimaced as he tried to sit up, and Beka saw the mass of bruises that now covered Harper's torso from the beating Roberto gave him.

"Can you breathe ok?" Beka checked, and saw Harper grimace but nod his head. "You'll be ok, you have to work through the pain for the minute, until we can get out of here," she offered.

"Why am I half naked and in extreme state of 'ow'?" Harper demanded snappily, as he got to his feet with Beka's help, clutching his ribs and then suddenly he yelped as he put some weight on his injured ankle.

"You're fine, trust me," Beka offered unconvincingly, trying to remain positive. "Harper, we're on an Uber ship and we're not exactly welcomed," she added to make her point.

"Crap, well, I don't think anything's broken," Harper let out a consigned heavy sigh, looking troubled he limped forward, following Beka. "But why am I only dressed in shorts?"

"Now is not the time," Beka stated, on alert now as she headed towards the door. "Here, take this, it's armed," she then said, giving Harper one of the weapons she had stolen, on seeing Harper's obvious discomfort at his attire she looked back at the dead Nietzshean. "Look, it won't fit but take his clothes, he doesn't need them any more," she gestured.

"You want me to undress an uber?" Harper frowned, and looked back at the clothes in question. "And he's not exactly my size."

With agitation Beka hurried back and began to remove the uber's clothes and Harper simply looked on. "Beggars can't be choosers, Harper."

"Since when did I become a freaking beggar?" Harper asked, obviously put out by the comparison.

Beka sighed heavily. "It's just a saying, Seamus, and right now you're the one stood in only a pair of shorts, so you tell me," she partially snapped, knowing they were wasting valuable time.

Harper picked up on her mood, and sensing the urgency of the situation he frowned. "Looks like you know what you're doing undressing that uber," Harper casually remarked to lighten the tension between them, and Beka looked up to see a cheeky half grin.

"You know, for two minutes I was happy to have you back," Beka returned sharply, then paused before smiling as she removed the dead uber's jacket, and then the guy's shirt. "Put these on," she ordered before beginning to remove the uber's pants.

"Do you have this with more red?" Harper asked checking out the blood that was on the shirt from the uber's fatal wounds. He frowned at the oversized item, and before Beka could answer he slipped the shirt on and started rolling up the sleeves so it would fit. When he was happy, he was thrown the pants and without complaint this time he put them on, and was sure to grab the belt. It took a while for Harper to roll the pant legs, and he looked at Beka. "How do I look?"

"I feel like I should say 'you'll grow into it'," Beka half smiled. "Shame about the boots, but you'll have to go bare foot for a while longer; will your ankle be ok?" Beka asked, then turned to the uber's undershirt and ripped it from his body, and began tearing it into shreds. "Come here, let's strap it up at least," she offered and Harper limped over and sat down again with some effort, still protecting his torso.

"It's ok you know," Harper shrugged with a distant air, as Beka gently took his ankle and began applying the make shift bandage, but Harper was now distracted by the door. "So what is the situation, where are we and what's the plan?"

"A lot has happened," Beka frowned, quickly finishing wrapping up the injured ankle. "I'm not sure you're ready to know, tell me what you last remember."

"I was blind," Harper answered obviously, and then his expression fell. "They were all dead, and destroyed, I saw Rommie die," he rapidly said with a shallow and distressed voice. "We're alone, sticking together."

Beka took hold of Harper's hand to calm him, and to ensure she had his attention. "Dylan, Trance, Rhade, are all alive, they didn't die, Seamus, they went someplace else courtesy of Trance, the Andromeda is still in one piece, they came back."

Harper looked at Beka, as if checking to see if she was joking or not, when she said no more he seemed to be trying to understand the news. "Alive?"

"It's why we have to do something, we're currently on this ship that contains ubers who are looking to take control of the Andromeda, defeat Dylan," Beka told him slowly. "They took us both in order to achieve this."

"So nothing has changed," Harper tried to reason, then with his friend's help, he got to his feet and moved past Beka, walking a little more easily now and towards the other room, with the systems he knew he could use to his advantage. "I could hack this," he declared. "It's a simple system, we've hacked a lot of similar ships to this, in our day," he continued absently, with his eyes focused on the system. "I need a jack lead, and I can give these ubers something to think about," he decided.

"Harper, are you sure you want to do this?" Beka checked, as Harper continued to explore the panel for supplies that might include a connector lead.

"A chance to mess up an uber ship, Beka, of course I want to do this," Harper returned, pausing for a moment to look at Beka strangely. "Us against them, good guys against the uber scum, come on Beka we live for this," he enthused, his eyes still focused on his work.

"There's something I haven't told you," Beka moved forward with caution. "The uber in control of this ship is Rico."

"Rico?" Harper checked, stopping his efforts in finding a jack, noticeably affected by her confession. "As in Yussuf's Rico? As in freaking scumbag sack of Nightsider waste products Rico who blinded me?" he checked, but already knowing he was right by Beka's reaction.

"I believe he just calls himself Rico, but yes that Rico," Beka answered.

Harper put both his hands on the wall, bracing himself as his feelings escalated, and he attempted to control them. "What am I doing on his ship?" he asked slowly.

"If I told you, we'd waste valuable hours," Beka answered and Harper seemed to quickly understand, as he slowly continued his search in silence, but Beka's sensed his sudden anxiety. "Harper, I know this is hard for you, not knowing all the details but I'm here, you just have to have trust me again."

"Again?" Harper picked up with distracted confusion and without looking away from his work, as he sorted through a selection of wires.

"When I first got here, after being captured by Rico, you didn't know me, or you found it hard to trust I was me," Beka attempted to explain.

Harper didn't respond immediately, as he pulled out several wires and checked their connectors. Finally he did speak. "I don't remember that, but later, explain it all to me later," Harper simply said with an even voice, clearly unsettled but motivated by work, as he moved away from the panel carrying two wires. "I've found the right connector, but it needs to be on this lead," he offered the two to Beka to see.

"What do you need?" Beka asked.

"Soldering equipment, I need to remove this," Harper gestured to the connector. "And attach it to this," he pointed out the second wire.

"I want to get out of this area, what's your hunch telling you?" Beka looked at Harper as he considered her question.

"We need to go below decks, engineering is usually there on these ships," he offered with a shrug. "It would be better for me to try and jack in from the engineering consoles," he added.

Beka nodded her head, trusting Harper's knowledge and slowly she opened the door, and they both moved with caution down the walkway. They walked for a few metres before Beka heard Harper suddenly cry out with surprise, and the sound of a struggle, before turning to see Harper now desperately trying to keep hold of his gun from getting in the hands of a Nietzschean female, imprisoned behind bars.

"Give it up, Darla!" Beka warned seeing Darla had freed herself from her restraints, but remained within her cell, her arms reaching through the bars with a strong hold on Harper's gun.

Beka quickly raised her weapon, but she had been too slow to stop Darla kicking Harper's injured ankle and could only watch as the female managed to grapple the weapon from Harper, taking it between the bars, and was now pointing it towards the stunned human. "Did you have to walk so close to the cells, Harper?" Beka asked tiredly.

"I didn't know some mad woman would do this," Harper attempted to explain, backing away with caution, to Beka's side.

"Seamus, if you want you gun, come and get it," Darla suggested with a smile.

"Darla?" Harper recognised her. "Rico's sister?"

"The very same," Beka answered for Darla. "Come on, keep moving, she won't shoot you."

"I want my gun back," Harper hissed.

"Then come and get it, lover," Darla half smiled.

"Did I mention she's freaking me out?" Harper asked hurriedly towards Beka. "Lover? Is that why she's looking at me like that? What the hell?" he added, needing an explanation. "Wait, don't tell me now, leave that one for later too," he frowned and began to move away with Beka.

"I will shoot him," Darla warned, and powered up the gun to make her point clear.

"You need him, if you still plan to get the Andromeda," Beka challenged. "Though the bars might be a problem, they seem to be holding you nicely."

"Then I'll shoot you," Darla smiled. "If I'm reading this correctly the little kludge has come out of his trance, and he knows who you are for real this time."

"No, don't shoot anybody," Harper quickly moved in front of Beka, in an effort to protect his friend.

"Harper, she's bluffing," Beka responded arrogantly.

"I know ubers, Beka, they don't bluff when they smile like that," Harper insisted, but Beka turned him around and pushed him forward to move them on, making to leave just as Darla fired a shot.

Harper couldn't react quickly enough, as Beka cried out and slumped quickly to the ground. With urgency Harper checked on Beka, seeing the shot was poorly aimed, only wounding her arm, but it was enough to distress Beka, and cause her discomfort.

"Beka?" Harper panicked.

"Its ok," Beka struggled, clutching her arm where the shot had hit her.

"If you want to make sure I don't finish the job, Harper, you'll come here," Darla then spoke.

"Don't Harper," Beka warned, as Harper moved between Beka and Darla, before helping Beka back up to her feet.

Seeing her wound, Harper ripped the sleeve off his shirt and quickly wrapped it around her arm, ignoring Darla's persistent requests for his attention.

"I miss our kisses," Darla then spoke, and Harper froze whilst still attending to Beka's injury.

"Ignore her," Beka said softly, and then she began to move slowly back, holding Harper so that he would walk with her.

"I will fire if you take another step, I have Harper in my sights," Darla calmly spoke.

Beka held her own weapon now, and armed it before pointing it at Harper's stomach. Harper and Beka both made eye contact, and without a sound they did a silent countdown, in a split second Harper stepped to one side and Beka fired a shot that sent Darla scrambling to the ground before she was able to properly aim a shot, it harmlessly fired off the bulkhead close to Harper.

"Let's go," Harper was first to speak, and they hurried away from the cells, hoping the gun shots hadn't alerted the whole ship to their activities.

TBC


	37. Chapter 37

Part 37

Colin stepped into the meeting room and stopped almost immediately, staring at the man stood with Dylan Hunt. There was an immediate atmosphere, as the two men sized each other up.

"Colin, your father has reasoned with Yussuf and his men and they are willing to work with us," Dylan finally announced, when no one else spoke.

"We can't trust them to keep their word," Colin spoke, still looking at his father.

"I will keep my ear to the ground and warn you if things change," Sadiki offered.

"You will ensure that they will not doubt us at all," Colin returned with strength in his voice that surprised Dylan, as much as it surprised the boy's father.

"Colin, your father is doing what we have asked of him," Dylan spoke calmly.

"Kosi," Sadiki began but he was quickly cut off by his son.

"That is not my name; that is a name of a weak child sent to prison by his own father, so that his father could be free!" Colin seethed.

"Colin," Sadiki corrected. "My being here does not mean we have to like each other, just tolerate each others presence, do not risk this mission of Captain Hunt over some point that means little to me."

Colin glared at his father. "I'd expect little else from a man like you."

"But your father is right, Colin," Dylan interrupted. "We need to rescue our crew and then destroy the threat that Rico has incurred on this system, starting with the threat to my ship," Dylan stressed. "Imagine what Rico could do to your people, if he succeeded in taking over the Andromeda."

Colin glared at Dylan, before his expression softened and he turned away, muttering something under his breath that neither Dylan nor his father caught.

Rommie suddenly appeared in holographic form beside Dylan. "Captain, I am detecting a ship, and it is on a direct course," she began. "It feels like Rico's ship but as yet I am unable to confirm, the ship has some kind of shield preventing me identifying it."

"Give me ship wide," Dylan ordered to his ship. "Red Alert, all personnel to action stations, enemy ship sighted."

"Captain," Rommie then spoke up, a little confusion sounding in her voice. "No one is reacting to your command, except for Trance and Rhade."

"What?" Dylan demanded and the screen flashed up to show all the personnel heading to other destinations. "I guess now we know how many of your Resistors were loyal to Rico," Dylan frowned, but was barely able to mask his anger. "Rommie, close off your command functions to all terminals bar the one I'm at, and only respond to my direct command, shut down engineering access and give these people no access at all to any of your systems, use whatever means necessary."

"Understood," Rommie agreed. "But you should know that two of the engineering crew are already in my conduits, with full access, I have been unable to disable their privileges."

"What privileges do they have?" Dylan asked, checking his force lance charged as he spoke.

"They have access to the energy resources and weapons, nothing more than that at this time," Rommie answered.

"Lock off your AI interface, try and disarm your internal weapons on my authorisation," Dylan quickly decided. "Give me full control of the weapons systems as soon as," he then hurried to the door. "Colin, Sadiki, with me, come on."

* * *

Harper and Beka had reached engineering, and found nearly five Nietzscheans busy at various consoles. So wrapped up in their work they didn't notice as the two humans quickly hid in a sub control room.

"This place got what you need?" Beka hissed, with her gun armed and ready as she kept an eye on the ubers through the control room window.

Harper rummaged through some shelves and quickly pulled a soldering kit from it's midst. "Yeah, give me a minute," Harper was already powering the wand up as he set to work ripping the connector from one lead, before busily connecting it precisely to the other lead.

After a few tense minutes, Harper was testing the strength of his work, and he then inserted the new soldered connector into his port, and pulled a pained face.

"Harper, whatever you plan to do make it quick," Beka suggested.

"Got a feeling I'll have no choice, this isn't a legal connector, it might not be stable enough for me to do much," Harper warned.

"I just don't want you in cyberspace, when you're needed out here," Beka feared.

Harper spun around and found an access port for the other end of the lead in one of the panels. "I'll be as quick as I can; I just want put this ship in diagnostic mode to buy us, and my lovely Andromeda some time, an old trick but one of my favourites."

Beka smiled, as Harper inserted the jack into the wall and then his eyes rolled back and he was inside the mainframe. Harper's still body was at peace, as Beka nervously waited, staying alert knowing anyone at anytime could enter the small side room.

The minutes passed slowly, and every so often Harper's body twitched, adding to Beka's rising stress levels, and she couldn't help remembering what he had said about the lead's suspect connection, hoping it was enough for Harper to complete the job he was doing.

Before she could become too worried, Beka heard voices outside, raised voices and then five gunshots. Snapping alert, Beka checked the window and armed her gun. There were now five dead Nietzscheans on the deck outside, and Beka could only wait before the door suddenly flew open and her worse fears were realised. Darla now stood over them both with the gun she'd stolen from Harper and aimed without firing. Beka refused to back down, keeping her weapon steady even though she was perspiring from her injury, her focus completely trained on Darla.

"Give it up, Valentine," Darla declared.

"Not to you, never," Beka returned strongly, edging closer to Harper to protect him.

"I've just killed the engineering section, so I need an engineer, and you know what? I see an engineer," Darla gestured to Harper. "I'm not giving him up, and one thing I don't need is a bitch for a first officer, you have to give up, Valentine, not me."

Beka focused on Darla and could see no wound about her person; Beka had been convinced that she had shot her. Realising now that she must have missed, or the shot was deflected by the bars of her cell, Beka remained close to Harper.

"You're injured," Darla observed knowingly, looking at Beka. "An injured female kludge can't defeat me."

"Your own arrogance can though," Beka snarled almost.

"Put down the gun," Darla commanded.

"Why?" Beka challenged. "There are two of us, one of you."

"If I shot him now, it would even the numbers," Darla warned.

"I'd shoot you before you had a chance to," Beka returned with anger.

Beka could see Darla was stuck, so convinced that she could use her uber powers to overthrow Beka but she was now beginning to show doubt in her expression and Beka slowly smiled.

"Who do you really want to defeat here, us or your brother?" Beka then asked, her tone softening.

Darla hesitated and considered the question. "All of you," she finally answered, her inexperience in battle becoming clear.

"Killing me, Harper and those five engineers is a stupid way of achieving that, but you already know that, don't you," Beka humoured her. "Can you fly a ship of this size solo?" Beka asked to add more weight to her argument, and then glanced down at the still unconscious engineer busy inside the ships systems. "Look, Darla, in me you have the Andromeda's best pilot, in Harper one of the best engineers in this universe, killing us is killing your only chance of actually defeating your brother, we want the same thing."

"What are you suggesting?" Darla cagily asked.

"Use those superior genes, you already know that defeating us is defeating yourself," Beka stressed, still holding her gun towards Darla.

Suddenly the lights plunged into emergency mode, casting shadows around them both, and within seconds Harper stirred and opened his eyes. Seeing the situation, he showed no surprise as he got to his feet unaided and stood by Beka, he glanced at the two guns each women held to each other.

"This ship is under my control now," Harper then announced with a lopsided grin.

"Says who?" Darla demanded with obvious surprise.

"Says the person who has just taken over this ship, what's the matter, your uber brain unable to understand?" Harper mocked, and then heard Darla charge her weapon and he faced her with gritted determination. "I'm a sick bastard; did anyone ever tell you that? You know maybe I did and I just don't remember, what with the strangeness I'm experiencing around here," he stressed in a low voice. "Point that freaking gun at me but I'll tell you this only once, your superior uber hearing should hear me fine, if either my heartbeat or Beka's heart beat slows down to say, an unconscious state, this ship blows with all of us on it."

"That's crazy, your precious Beka is injured, she could fall unconscious or die anytime," Darla stressed with mild panic, glancing at Beka's bleeding arm and weakening state.

Harper glanced back at Beka with some concern. "Which is why you're now going to escort us safely to the med deck of this thing, its now in everyone's best interest that Beka remains alive," Harper stated with urgency, and then grinned as he eyed his gun still in Darla's possession. "And I believe that's mine," he added. "You won't be needed this anymore."

Without a struggle Harper easily claimed back his gun from Darla's grip, and she looked stunned by developments as she numbly allowed Harper to push her forward, somehow becoming the prisoner but still not sure how.

TBC


	38. Chapter 38

Part 38

"Dylan," Rhade immediately spoke, looking up from his console on seeing the captain walk onto command.

"Andromeda, secure command," Dylan barked, as he hurried to his console.

"I've already rid command of the traitors," Rhade stated efficiently.

"We are safe, for the moment," Trance then offered.

Dylan was focused on the console he now stood in front of, checking the situation and seeing very few people were on his side aboard his own ship. Behind him Colin and Sadiki had arrived on command, and anxiously looked around the gathered people, before their gaze fell on Dylan.

"I hope you have a plan," Colin said, with his father beside him and his tone reverting back to the familiar patterns they knew, no longer hostile in his father's presence.

"Hope is a weak emotion," Sadiki remarked.

"Then you must do a lot of hoping," Colin returned sharply.

"Quiet," Dylan snapped towards the father and son. "The situation may look bleak, but we've caught it in time," Dylan confirmed. "Andromeda's systems are mostly locked off to my direct command only, these people can do very little unless they have their very own Harper amongst their ranks," and he noted the concerned glances in return. "Which they don't," he quickly added, showing a glimmer of doubt. "And we do have Yussuf and his men on side, for the moment, we're not totally helpless here."

"And they are not totally cut off from this ship's systems," Rhade figured. "And we haven't exactly had a sighting of Harper's position right now; we don't know for sure that they haven't got the genuine article."

"He is a part of this, Dylan, but I am unsure exactly how," Trance offered softly.

"Harper is not aboard the Andromeda, that's all we need to know right this minute," Dylan stated, knowing that Trance was trying to help, but he decided to move on. "There are two engineer's in the conduits, they have sneaked through the net," Dylan was already preparing his force lance, as he nodded towards Rhade. "We have to stop them," he then looked at Trance. "You have command, and maybe you can help these two work through their issues," he gestured angrily towards the two Nietzscheans. "I'm only interested in people who can work together right now," he stated before leaving with Rhade.

* * *

"Stay over there where I can see you," Harper ordered towards Darla, and then returned his attention to Beka who was still holding a gun aimed at the female Nietzschean, as Harper tended to her wound.

He could tell she was growing weaker with blood loss, as perspiration covered her face and she was struggling to remain focused.

"Beka, it's imperative that you stay awake," Harper reminded her quietly, so Darla wouldn't hear his concern.

"Don't give me any drugs," Beka stated.

"Not going to," Harper was quick to assure her, glancing at Darla to make sure she was staying where he asked her to. "Maybe I should go back into the main frame, take your life signs off of the self destruct loop."

"No," Beka sat up and seemed to shake the fog from her mind, with a new determination. "It's the only thing keeping me, us alive right now."

Harper wanted to object, but being on a ship full of Nietzscheans he knew Beka had a point. "Just stay awake then," he offered with seriousness that almost looked sad with its determination.

"I'll be fine, Harper," she now assured him, as Harper finished bandaging her arm securely.

There was suddenly a noise behind them and Harper turned to see Rico storming into the medical area alone. Harper drew his gun immediately, as Rico stopped to take in the scene.

"You let these kludges overpower you?" Rico asked towards his sister, ignoring the threat before him.

"I'm humouring them, they work fast, so far these kluges have disabled your ship," Darla smiled.

"Next you'll be telling me they killed five of my men in engineering," Rico dismissed knowingly, and walked towards his sister.

"Stop right there!" Harper demanded, holding his gun as though his life depended on it, and he realised it probably did. "Your ship is under my control."

Rico turned to face Harper, full of confidence. "Is that so, little kludge?"

Harper stared into the ubers eyes, and noticeably flinched, as memories of the last time he saw those eyes taunted him. "Don't patronise me," Harper returned sharply, his grip on his gun becoming firmer. "Right now all your ship's systems are tuned into me, all your engineers are dead, and you know what that means? You need me, uber!" Harper yelled with his voice slightly wavering as his mind was flooded with images of Rico just before the uber took his sight away so painfully.

"I control you!" Rico yelled back, with a glint of joy in his expression.

"I'm the one holding the gun," Harper challenged loudly, losing some of his composure, then heard Beka order Darla to remain where she was. "I've taken over this ship, uber!"

Rico began to slowly laugh, and Harper backed away slightly as the Nietzschean began to approach.

"Harper, shoot him," Beka hissed in a low voice, showing concern for Harper's resolve that was clearly buckling under the sheer presence of the larger intimidating Nietzschean.

"Don't come any closer!" Harper yelled with panicked tones lacing his words and his arms began to shake.

"I took your sight away once," Rico warned, enjoying the hold he realised he now had on the human, it was all too clear in Harper's actions that he was unable to stand strong to the uber who had defeated him once already.

There was a flash of light, quickly followed by the sound of weapon discharge and finally Rico stopped walking, before numbly looking over towards his sister, Darla, as she slowly fell to the deck, having advanced too far for Beka's liking.

"Darla?" Rico spoke with shock, seeing his sister collapse on the deck. The dull thud of Darla falling to the deck brought the room back to life as Rico suddenly surged forward towards Harper, who instinctively fired a shot from his gun with panic, seeing the fury in Rico's actions.

The shot skewed wide of the approaching Nietzschean, and Harper attempted to scramble away but Rico aggressively kicked his hand and the gun flew through the air. Rico then easily grabbed his hair and Harper froze, consumed by the memories of the last time Rico had held power over him. Closing his eyes he almost trembled and awaited the pain, but instead all that happened was that he heard Beka warning the uber to back off. Calming his breathing, Harper opened his eyes to find Beka now pressing her gun to the Nietzschean's temple, but neither backed off as they remained in standoff against each other.

"Let him go," Beka said with a steady voice. "I shot your sister, and I have no problem with shooting you too, fatally if need be."

"You're going to kill me anyway," Rico sneered, his grip tightening in Harper's hair, not letting go. "And apparently you have control of my ship, I guess I'm the loser here," he stated all too calmly, and then he brought his other hand to Harper's neck, and smiled as he began to squeeze. "I'll snap his neck in two, on instinct, if you fire that weapon."

Harper began to choke, and he looked at Beka not wanting her to give in to the uber's power games, regardless of the lack of oxygen he now had.

"You kill him, you kill us all, Rico; the ship is set to his life signs!" Darla spoke hurriedly, stranded on the floor, alert once more but bleeding and disabled from her injury.

The Nietzshean's hold on Harper remained, and he showed only a glimmer of surprise that his sister was still alive. Beka then hesitated seeing the colour draining from Harper's face. When his eyes appeared to bulge she finally conceded defeat and moved the weapon away from Rico's temple, offering surrender. Rico finally dropped Harper who fell like a heavy weight, before snatching her gun and putting it out of reach. When Harper didn't move Beka ignored Rico and crouched beside her friend, checking immediately for a pulse. Bringing her hand to her face, Beka sniffed loudly as her emotions crashed, and her energy seemed to drain immediately.

'Ship's auto destruct sequence initiated'

Rico looked around him, as the ship's sirens began to sound around them.

'Two minutes until detonation'

Beka hid her face as she backed away and found a wall to lean against, burying her face. Rico was unsure what to do, and could only look at the fallen human before him.

"I told you!" Darla screamed. "His life signs were connected to this ship, Rico; you've killed him, and now we all die, well done, brother!" Darla screamed with anger. "We don't even have any engineers on board now to fix this mess!"

"And whose fault is that?" Rico yelled back, before another ship wide announcement confirmed they now only had ninety-seconds. "I'm going to engineering to save our asses," Rico confirmed and ran from the room.

Beka looked up, her face surprisingly bright as she glanced at Harper and hurried to his side. "Hey, he's gone, come on, snap out of it," Beka shook the engineer lightly.

"What the…" Darla spoke up, but unable to move still confined to the spot where she had been shot.

"Seamus, come on, less that sixty seconds before we all go kaboom, not good," Beka insisted. "Quit messing about, I know you're not really dead."

Slowly, Beka's actions became more frantic as the lifeless form before her failed to respond. Behind her, Darla remained unsure as she could only watch. "He's dead," Darla finally spoke, disturbed now by Beka's actions. "And so are we thanks to his stupid plan."

'Thirty seconds to self destruct'

"No, he's not dead, he's not dead," Beka insisted, and began pressing down on Harper's chest to encourage his heart and any sign of life. "He can't be dead," she frantically repeated pressing down some more with urgency now.

"Ow, quit it," Harper suddenly complained, pushing Beka hands away. "Not a nice way to wake a guy up, you know?" he continued oblivious to the panic he had caused, as he sat up still rubbing his sore chest. "Maybe this is why you're still single," he added before being gripped in a vice like hug.

"I knew you weren't dead, I knew I felt a pulse, albeit a feint pulse, what the hell did you do to yourself?" Beka then demanded, through her relief.

Harper got to his feet, partially distracted as he retrieved his gun. "Old meditation technique Rev taught me," he simply answered, and before Beka could react Harper aimed the gun and fired on Darla.

"Harper!" Beka yelled with horror.

"She was about to let her brother know I wasn't dead," Harper explained coldly. "I can't let that happen, I don't care, Rico doesn't know the countdown's been aborted, he's dead, you got me?"

"Harper, calm the hell down!" Beka demanded.

"We don't have time for the Dylan 'peace and love' chat right now, Beka, I've got to do this, whilst he thinks his ship is about to blow!" Harper insisted, moving towards the exit.

"How do you know it's been aborted?"

"Because we're both living and breathing, after the thirty second countdown I programmed silence, Rico has no idea how long he has," Harper was suddenly very active for someone considered dead moments earlier, as he raced through the exit.

"What the hell are you doing? You can't do this, Harper, I won't let you," Beka stressed, as she pursued him through the corridors now.

"I've wanted to do for a long time," Harper yelled back angrily. "He stole my sight, he stole my dignity, he's a freaking dead man now, I have a chance to resolve this once and for all."

"Wait up, Harper, stop for a moment," Beka insisted, as she gained ground on him.

"We don't have time, he still thinks this ship is seconds away from meltdown, we have to do this now!" Harper yelled back frantically.

"No!" Beka finally grabbed hold of Harper and pushed him into the bulkhead, getting his attention. "You are not a heartless killer."

"He's a freaking uber, they don't count, I've killed hundreds, thousands of them before or are you forgetting my part in that little Angel of Death incident?" Harper sneered, his anger clear in his features and reactions, his adrenaline pumping.

"You're better than him, Harper," Beka calmly spoke.

"I know that," Harper snapped, looking away.

"Then prove it and don't sink to his level," Beka responded.

Harper took some needed deep breaths. "I owe him pain and misery."

"You just killed his sister," Beka reminded him. "And you have control of his ship; why not use that brain of yours to defeat this uber?"

Harper's emotions began to seep through. "He made me feel like scum, Beka," Harper explained, losing some of his control, as he took deep breaths whilst trying to talk. "When I was a slave, he reduced me to nothing more than dirt, you don't know what he did," he stressed, as he fought with his memories and the threat of tears. "He took away my sight for a bit of entertainment, he confirmed to me that I'm nothing more than a slave, one of those worthless kludges, that I'm nothing, Beka and you're telling me I'm not allowed to kill him for that?" Harper asked incredulously. "You just don't know do you?" he stressed, shaking his head.

Beka sighed, and simply put her hand gently on Harper's shoulder. "I'm not telling you what you should do Harper, I'm only asking you to consider the alternatives," Beka responded softly. "You beat that guy by getting your sight back, by proving you are somebody and he never took anything away from you, did he?" Beka stated.

Harper considered her words, and in an instantly appeared deflated as his knees buckled and he slid down the wall. "Thirty-seconds have obviously passed now, Rico will know his ship is about to blow up," he spoke quietly, and in defeat as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Then we need to resume command of this ship and get our asses back to the Andromeda," Beka stated strongly, but saw that Harper remained where he was, almost looking lost. "You know as well as anyone that life sucks, Harper, so why let Rico have the easy way out, living is a lot harder than dying."

Harper glanced up at Beka, and for a moment just stared at her, seeking some comfort in her expression before she offered her hand, and he got to his feet with her assistance. "Rico will know he can't kill us now, and he has no control," Harper spoke, as they began to walk.

"He still has men on board, and can outnumber us," Beka warned. "There's nothing stopping him forcing you to work for him, with the control you have."

"Yeah there is," Harper smirked, shaking off his brief depression quickly. "You," he genuinely smiled, as he guided Beka down a corridor, heading towards the command section. They both remained alert with their weapon's ready, knowing they still had a lot more work to do, if they were to stay out of anymore trouble.

TBC


	39. Chapter 39

Part 39

The raised voices and argumentative atmosphere filled the space, as Dani sat quietly keeping her self to herself. She was worried, no one telling her anything about Seamus Harper, and she hadn't seen him amongst the evacuees that had escaped from the palace. Glancing around, Dani was aware that she was now on the ship that Harper called home, when he remembered where home was. Her memories of the ship were vague at best, but being there was hitting her hard as her concern for Harper consumed her.

"Dani, I brought you a drink," a voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up with a brief smile, as she took the carton from Kane.

"What's going on?" Dani asked, taking a sip of the drink.

"We've been told to stay here by the ship," Kane said as he sat next to Dani. "I think there is a problem on board, we seem to be in a red alert lock down situation."

"I bet Yussuf is loving this," Dani remarked calmly.

"He's only got a few blood vessels left that haven't burst," Kane returned with a smirk.

"Are we still loyal to Yussuf?" Dani then asked in a hushed voice. "I mean, does he actually still have any power over us, isn't he in the same position as us?"

"I'm not sure," Kane frowned. "Technically he's nothing now, he's lost his power and has been defeated, but look at us; we are here with him."

"I'm here because I didn't want to remain with those other people, I wanted to escape those psychos," Dani corrected. "Who knows what they've done to Seamus."

Kane appeared to respond to her concern by putting an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure the human is ok and causing his new prison guards plenty of problems."

"So he was a prisoner of Yussuf?" Dani caught, looking at Kane for a clue in his reaction, but only saw Kane shrug as he glanced over to Yussuf.

"We were all prisoners of Yussuf, Dani," He spoke calmly.

"What are we now then, idiots for still being with Yussuf?" Dani asked. "I still respect the guy, and I can't help it, it's like I can't hate him," she admitted glumly.

"I'm remaining loyal to Yussuf because I care little for the alternative," Kane answered tiredly.

"We don't have to just have two choices, Kane," Dani sat forward, her voice hushed. "It's not a case of Yussuf or these mad man who stormed the palace, what about the Commonwealth, or the rest of the universe? There's so much more than this stupid sector," Dani insisted, remembering something of what Harper had told her.

"I'm Yussuf pride," Kane reminded her. "I've chosen Yussuf over my own brother and sister."

"Rico and Darla?" Dani checked. "What do you mean?"

"You didn't know my brother and sister were behind the palace takeover?" Kane checked.

Dani showed her surprise before frowning as it sunk in. "So you mean Rico and Darla have Seamus," she said, remembering another moment from her past with hollow fear. "They hate kludges, he blinded Seamus for fun," she stressed with sudden panic.

"I know," Kane nodded his head. "They stupidly blamed your friend for my capture, but I never regretted my part in helping you help him."

Looking at Kane with confusion, Dani paused for a moment before speaking. "Why? I mean why do you help me, and look out for me?"

"You know why, Dani, I've told you so many times," Kane answered with a sigh, as he tiredly rubbed his face with his hand. "But because of what he did to you, you can never remember," he frowned, gesturing to Yussuf. "I was there the day Yussuf captured you, and brainwashed you the first time."

Dani simply looked at the ground. "If you disagreed so much, why did you continue to serve him?"

"To help those who couldn't help themselves," Kane answered, and then glanced over towards Yussuf who was still ranting and raving to his gathered flunkies. "Nietzsheans have a bad rep as ogres and animals, and tyrants," Kane spoke turning his attention back to Dani. "If you can't beat them, join them."

"Your brother and sister think differently," Dani pointed out. "And they have beaten Yussuf."

"And now they are going to die, because they are fools and didn't stop with Yussuf," Kane answered without emotion. "They have learnt nothing from their time serving Yussuf, but I have, anyone at anytime could have done what they did but it takes someone who is strong to truly bring balance to this sector, my brother and sister do not possess that strength, they only possess hunger and greed, and they will both suffer the consequences."

"Will the Commonwealth bring balance?" Dani idly asked, her head now resting on her drawn up knees.

"No," Kane now smirked. "But the Commonwealth will help us find that balance, it won't happen unless we make it happen."

Dani looked up. "I only want to find Seamus," she offered distantly. "This isn't my home, this sector means nothing to me, my home was Earth and now it's been destroyed, I don't belong here anymore with Yussuf or what's left of his pride."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but I do understand and I'm sure you're in the right place if you wish to find Seamus Harper, you are not alone," Kane assured her.

"Why do you follow, Kane?" Dani asked with seriousness. "You sound to me like you know what's best for this sector, so why not do something about it, take a stand?"

"I fear where it would take me, and fear in a Nietzschean does not make good leadership potential," Kane returned with a smile. "I'm not an alpha male, Dani, I simple serve."

"Who told you that?" Dani countered and she saw the hesitation in Kane's expression suddenly. "Yussuf?" she guessed, and by Kane's sudden silence she got her answer.

* * *

Harper leaned against the bulkhead, suddenly short of breath and he felt his control wavering as he tried to compose himself.

"Hey, come on, we have to keep moving," Beka encouraged him. "Command is just up ahead."

Harper's composure was rapidly starting to resemble shock, and Beka took a hold of his arms to stop the engineer from losing his balance. "What are we doing, Beka? This is Rico's ship, I've just killed his sister," Harper stressed, his eyes wide now with fear.

"Snap of it, Seamus," Beka warned, glancing up and down the corridor to check they were still alone. "We can do this, we've been in worse situations, Rico doesn't appear to fill his ships with Nietzscheans, and we have to do this to save the Andromeda."

"If this ship is so empty, what threat is it to the Andromeda?" Harper half laughed, but the fear was still evident in his voice, almost hysterical sounding.

"I don't know, I'm not even sure Rico knows," Beka admitted. "But I don't think this is over so you have to keep going, we'll deal with everything else later."

"Later, yeah, we'll talk," Harper remembered distantly, his composure appearing to return for the moment, as he pushed himself up and away from the bulkhead. "Maybe Rico's men aren't on this ship," he suddenly figured, as slowly Beka guided him towards command.

"What do you mean?" Beka asked confused.

"What if his men are already on the Andromeda, what if the attack has already started without us? We might be the punch line," Harper figured casually. "It makes no sense that Rico is heading towards the Andromeda without an army but with clear intentions of taking it, so what if they are already there?" Harper now began to stress, with his panic rising.

"Colin's men, we weren't sure how many were loyal to Rico," Beka then realised.

"Colin?" Harper checked with a wry grin. "That puppy dog that followed you everywhere until you kicked him off the ship?"

"I did not kick him off!" Beka protested, but Harper's expression reminded her that now was not the time. "Yes, Colin the Nietzschean, Harper, a lot happened ok but I left the Andromeda with Colin, and some of his friends onboard but we were unsure how many of those 'friends' were actually genuine," Beka frowned now, as they approached command and heard the voices of the command crew.

"You left a bunch of Nietzschean's on the Andromeda with question marks over their heads as to their loyalty?" Harper checked with surprise.

Beka shrugged and seemed to cringe at Harper's observation. "It was a difficult situation, it was Dylan's idea, and I had to come looking for you," she hurriedly explained. "Dylan had to save Yussuf, and reclaim the palace so we could-" Beka attempted to explain before she was cut off.

"Save Yussuf?" Harper asked then quickly raised his hand, and a shake of the head. "Later, again with the later," he gestured towards command. "We still have to somehow disable this ship but at the same time be able to help the Andromeda."

"If Rico's men are already on board the Andromeda," Beka then looked at Harper. "This ship is just too big for the two of us," she grinned.

"The Maru?" Harper smiled, understanding his friend's unspoken words. "But first, let me leave these guys a parting shot, or five," Harper requested.

"What will it involve?" Beka checked.

"Five minutes, a port to jack into and a healthy dose of revenge the Harper way," Harper offered with narrowed eyes.

"Five minutes, that's all I'm giving you, we shouldn't hang around whilst things are so quiet," Beka ordered sternly. "Do you know where the Maru is?"

Harper simply tapped his temple, signifying that he did and they both turned to head back down the corridor, but before Harper knew what was happening he was suddenly pulled back by Beka to one side and he found himself pressed against the bulkhead. Voices were heard up ahead, and then the whole corridor changed colour as the ship went into red alert, they glanced back towards command and now sense fresh activity, as the whole ship appeared to take on a more threatening atmosphere.

"So much for the quiet," Beka remarked under her breath.

"You think Rico's finally figured out that his ship hasn't blown up, he must be one of those smart ubers," Harper mocked, but alert to the sudden activity that seemed to be developing around them.

"There are in this corridor, sir!"

"Good, find them!"

Beka glanced at the panic stricken Harper, he had heard Rico's voice and it had sent his emotions hurtling back towards his fear. From command two Nietzscheans appeared and instantly spotted them, drawing their weapons and yelling at them both to hit the deck in surrender.

Beka encouraged Harper to join her on the deck; she could see they were surrounded with a number of guns trained on them. Without a word Harper laid face down, and Beka glanced down the corridor to see Rico approaching, clearly angered.

"You!" Rico yelled towards Harper, ignoring Beka as he headed directly for the prone human, and with a swift kick Harper was suddenly doubled up and gasping for air. "Get to your feet!" Rico shouted loudly and before Harper had a chance to respond, Rico grabbed his shirt and hurled him to his feet pushing him roughly into the bulkhead. "What did you do to my ship!" he yelled, and Harper simply smirked, before Rico immediately backhanded him.

"Hey!" Beka yelled seeing fresh blood from Harper's nose, making to move but the sound of guns being charged caused her to freeze and remain where she was.

Rico looked at Harper with intensity, and then noticed the human's clothes. "You insult my friend by wearing the clothes you murdered him in?" Rico sneered, half ripping the blood stained top to make his point. Harper glared at Rico, showing little emotion to the irate uber.

"You will fix this ship, and you will remove the changes you have made," Rico stressed, but Harper remained silent.

"Rico," a new voice shouted, before approaching the Nietzschean. "I need to speak to you."

"It can wait, I'm have other business right now," Rico stated, his attention not moving from the human he still held against the bulkhead.

"Boss," The Nietzschean soldier insisted as he approached. "You really need to follow me."

"You do not order me around, Jericos!" Rico snapped, and Harper was shoved to the ground as Rico turned to the soldier with fury.

"It's your sister," the soldier continued.

"She's dead, I know, a shot to the stomach by these kludges," Rico fumed with uncontrolled anger.

"She died only a minute ago, gunshot to the side of the head and one to the chest, she was a fighter till the end," the soldier informed him. "We did all we could to try and save her."

"She was alive," Rico then checked, and seemed uncertain for a moment. "She wasn't shot in the head or chest when I left her," he spun around to Harper and made the obvious connection. "You killed my already wounded sister?"

"Put her out of her misery," Harper offered glibly.

"Harper!" Beka snapped knowing Harper had just framed himself.

Rico moved away for a moment before turning back to the human, still on the deck where Rico had thrown him.

"You have killed my best friend, and my sister, you destroyed my brother's life and you saved Yussuf's life," Rico recounted with disbelief, and then he pulled his weapon from its holster. "I should kill you right now, kludge."

"And kill us all, this ship is still programmed to our life signs," Harper reminded him tiredly, gesturing to himself and Beka.

With frustration Rico slammed his weapon back into its holster and dragged Harper to his feet, pulling him along harshly. Harper could barely keep his balance, stumbling all the way as he was forced to follow Rico and he figured they were heading for engineering. With little fear, Harper kept picking himself up, seemingly causing the Nietzschean little trouble as the uber kept the pace up without missing a step.

Finally they arrived and Harper felt the full force of the main console as Rico smashed his head directly into it. A little dazed, Harper lifted his head tasting blood, and focused on the herd of ubers around him.

"Here's your jack, kludge, I see it's worthy of you," Rico forced Harper to hold the crude cable he had earlier welded. "Now fix my ship."

"No," Harper returned with strength.

"Right now I have a date with your lovely Andromeda, but I'm going no where fast," Rico stressed.

"Your sister killed your engineer's not me, not my problem if the ship no longer moves," Harper explained, and then yelped as Rico grabbed his hair tightly.

"You claim to be an engineer, kludge, prove it and you might live once I claim the Andromeda," Rico sneered directly into Harper's ear.

"The Andromeda will never ever be yours, you hear me, my Rommie has class and would never lower herself to serve the likes of you," Harper responded firmly, and then screamed as Rico slammed one end of the cable into Harper's data port without any warning. "You should warn a guy before you violate them!" Harper snapped angrily still recovering with a grimace.

Harper felt the air rushing past him as Rico slammed him into the wall and then his mind melted with confusion and electronic waves as the matrix invaded his consciousness without consent. It hurt like it had never hurt before, and Harper could only tense up as the forced link continued to cause him pain. It was like a different world, nothing made sense here and a place where he normally found solace was suddenly dark and intimidating, he couldn't understand any of the information that rushed past him.

With all his strength, Harper tried to regain some control and brought his hand to his neck and pulled the jack from his port. The intensity of the disconnection caused him to scream with pain and collapse to his knees, and for a moment he was unable to focus and lost awareness until he was shaken from his personal hell.

"Did you fix it?" Rico demanded, pulling a dazed Harper to his feet.

Taking some deep breaths, Harper took time to answer. "No."

The right hook sent him crashing to the ground, before he felt someone else picking him up as Rico descended on him, with the cable in hand.

"No, no, no," Harper stammered, able to figure out what Rico had in mind but there was no way he was going back into the mainframe after his last visit. He pushed back against the attempts to lead him forward towards the connection, and panicked as the uber's strength easily defeated his own.

"This time, fix the ship or we'll force you to watch as we kill you friend," Rico sneered, tentatively placing the jack to Harper's port.

"We'll all die anyway if you kill her, remember?" Harper responded arrogantly.

"We have escape pods," Rico simply said. "I know you can live with the death of my people on your hands, but what about your kludge friend?"

Harper stared at Rico, quickly calculating the probability of an escape pod getting enough distance before the ship blew. This was a fairly modern ship, it's pods were be sufficient to cover the distance needed to find safety, of that he was sure and he realised Rico had once again undermined him, and his resolved weakened.

"Fix the ship, or your friend dies," Rico ordered. "You're now my chief engineer, you will assist me in taking the Andromeda, and you have no choice, slave."

Harper closed his eyes, all fight leaving him rapidly, as he tried to compose his thoughts but the sudden influx of information consumed him fiercely once more, as his body fell unconscious surrounded by code and data, and his mind numbly began to work against his own free will.

TBC


	40. Chapter 40

Part 40

Rhade grunted as Dylan directed him further into the conduit, the narrow space worked against the Nietzschean but he took some comfort in seeing Dylan also struggling with the small dimensions of the Andromeda's conduits.

"The two remaining intruders are close by, they haven't moved for nearly five minutes so they might be either working on a panel or connected to the mainframe," Dylan whispered. "Take that conduit and follow it to the right, I'll continue here and we should effectively trap them either side," Dylan directed Rhade, as he gestured to the pad he held.

"Shoot to kill or shoot to cause discomfort?" Rhade checked with a smirk.

"Shoot to stop them doing any more harm to my ship," Dylan hissed.

Rhade nodded his head before moving into the conduit, as Dylan continued on his way. Just short of where the two invaders were situated, Dylan heard voices and paused to listen, his breath almost caught as he listened with care.

They were communicating with a third party over a transmission, and Dylan edged closer, certain that he had heard a familiar voice but now he wasn't so sure.

"We can't bypass the lockouts, boss, and we're running out of time, nothing that kludge has told us is working, in fact it's working against us because the ship keeps shocking us!" the first invader snapped into his communications unit.

Dylan winced on hearing a scream of pain over the transmission, and he was convinced now that he was hearing Harper, after a couple more screams he then heard Harper breathlessly talking over the comms.

"Ok, ok," Harper's voice came back between heavy breaths. "You want to know how to by pass," Harper paused again, obviously struggling. "By pass the lockdown in place, short answer is you can't," Harper was heard to scream again having given the wrong answer. "Ok, ok, input security code, Gamma, Delta, three, seven, kiss my ass," Harper stressed and the communication was quickly cut off.

Dylan couldn't help but smile at the human's resistance but he knew it was coming at a price. His own communication unit beeped into life and Dylan saw Rhade on the small screen.

"You hear that?" Rhade asked.

"Harper," Dylan answered with a nod.

"What do we do?" Rhade responded.

"Take these clowns out as planned, with them out of the picture Rico has no need to further demand or physically force Harper help them," Dylan answered.

"He might also have no further need for Harper," Rhade pointed out and Dylan closed his eyes, knowing the Nietzschean was making a very good point.

"We still take them out," Dylan decided. "Then we wait, my voice is too familiar but Rico doesn't know your voice, Rhade, your accent is fairly similar to the guy doing all the talking," Dylan decided.

"No it's not!" Rhade protested lightly.

"It is now, Rhade, improvise, let's go," Dylan ordered and the two men moved forward with haste, to take out the final two intruders.

* * *

Harper fell to the deck with exhaustion, after five attempts by Rico to force him into the ship's mainframe, and then the two further beatings whilst trying to get him to give up details on overriding Andromeda's systems. Without looking up, Harper already knew Rico was stood over him, not prepared to give the human any rest. Wearily, Harper pushed himself up onto his knees and wiped the blood from his mouth and nose with the long sleeve of the dead Nietzschean's top that Harper still wore.

"Are you looking to die, kludge?" Rico asked calmly.

"No," Harper answered tiredly. "I'm nearly ready to kill someone again though, does that count?" he added brightly, even with his weary composure.

"I'll kill you before you even get a chance to kill me," Rico sneered and pulled Harper to his feet. "Now, let's have another go at taking over the Andromeda, maybe pain will help you remember how good it is to co-operate with me," he smiled. "No slave has ever resisted me, kludge, and you will not be the first."

"No uber has ever defeated me," Harper managed, before he felt his wrists being tied tightly behind his back. Ignoring the pain, Harper looked around the barren room they were now in situated below decks on the ship. It was clearly a cell of some sort, as Harper checked the exit blocked by electronic bars, there was little in the room that further supported its primary use as a means to hold people.

Rico activated the transmitter pad he held, and he stood near to Harper before turning to him. "If you continue to defy me, slave," Rico sneered into the human's face. "I will take your precious sight away again without a second thought, and I won't hesitate to weaken you further, both physically and mentally, you killed my sister and lost me my brother, don't you dare think I have anything planned for you apart from pain and misery, do you understand?"

Harper just stared at Rico with contempt, but inside he felt the full fear Rico wanted him to feel. Still remembering that Rico had carried through his threat before, when he had lost his sight and Harper was under no illusions that Rico didn't mean what he said. The mere thought of losing his sight again scared Harper more than he cared to admit, remembering the frustration and overwhelming sense of uselessness that had dogged him. Harper wanted to hate Rico, but he calmed his emotions knowing one stupid mistake could cost him so much, no uber would defeat him but Rico was coming close, and the human looked away from the Nietzschean's glare.

"Do you understand?" Rico asked again with anger.

"Yeah," Harper answered with little enthusiasm, still looking away from the uber.

"Giev, come in," Rico spoke into the pad.

"Here boss," the voice returned, but the quality was not good. "We're experiencing some interference so my voice might be a little distorted but I can hear you fine," he added.

"Very well, I have spoken at length with the slave and think he may be a little more co-operative now," Rico announced, and turned to Harper. "Right?" Harper just grimaced without answering. "Tell us how to override the lock out that currently is in place on board the Andromeda."

Harper looked away, not wanting to cooperate but Rico grabbed his hair roughly, and Harper soon found his voice. "Take the green wire, should be to your right," Harper began, his voice low and slightly panicked. "Find the red wire and pull out the chip that it's attached too."

"This won't cause my men a shock will it?" Rico demanded, pulling on Harper's hair some more for effect.

"No," Harper strained under the pain, until Rico let go and he heard the Nietzschean order his men to follow the plan. "When you've done that, tell the computer the following code, 'uber scum rot in hell'," Harper instantly yelped as Rico grabbed his hair again. "No, no," Harper stressed. "That's the code, I promise that's the code," Harper demanded frantically. "Me kludge, you uber, me hate your kind, get me?" Harper explained with panicked urgency.

"I suggest you change the code when we have control of the ship," Rico stated with a tired air, letting go of the human's hair once more.

"It'll still be relevant then," Harper quipped before he could stop himself, and found himself falling sharply down in a heap onto the deck, as Rico lashed out at him with uncontrolled anger.

"We've done that, we're in," the voice returned, as Harper remained down.

"Finally, the kludge is getting us results," Rico smiled knowingly. "We may have to wait a few minutes for the slave to regain consciousness, see what you can do in the meantime and I'll let you know when the kludge is back online."

"Kludge is back online?" Rhade hissed once the communication was cut, and he hit the panel in front of him with frustration. "Harper is many things, but he's not a machine."

"He's not a slave either, or a kludge," Dylan pointed out. "We have to get him off that ship."

"Before Rico kills him," Rhade agreed.

"Rico won't kill him, he would have done so already if that was his intention," Dylan sighed, but there was concern in his expression. "Though there's always the risk of an accident," he considered with genuine worry.

"Harper in Rico's eyes is a slave who escaped, and a slave who has defied the odds to further humiliate the Nietzschean pride," Rhade spoke with some apprehension in his voice. "If Harper was working to get his sight back, and has done so, that alone would be enough to make the Nietzschean who did that to him, feel as though the slave in question had insulted him, his family, and his authority by undermining his wishes for Harper to be blinded."

"Nietzscheans are really messed up, you know that?" Dylan remarked.

"In Rico's case I'll agree with you," Rhade returned. "So are we just going to say that everything Harper suggests works?" he added.

"For the moment, yes," Dylan agreed. "Harper should hopefully twig, so long as what he's telling us is false information."

"Captain," Rommie's projection appeared beside them in a smaller form. "The instructions Harper has given previously were all false, and led to my pre-programmed defences to activate against the intruders," she confirmed. "However, the last set of instructions given to you are genuine, the password is in fact Harper's own to override security measures that I may have in place."

"So 'uber scum rot in hell' is a genuine password in your matrix?" Rhade checked with amused disbelief.

"This is Harper, his profile has quite a few insults for passwords," Rommie added with a smile.

"If this is true, and I'm not doubting you, Andromeda," Dylan began, concern still etched on his features. "Then it's possible that Rico has finally broken Harper, and he's about to give us access to the Andromeda."

"Considering we already have access, captain," Rhade reminded him pointedly. "It's not a bad thing, right?"

"Not for us, but for Harper it could be very bad," Dylan feared.

* * *

The cold ice water drenched Harper's upper body and he returned to consciousness with a start, partly shivering as his body reacted to the extreme wake up call.

"Slave," Rico called out. "To your feet."

Harper wanted to protest but his body was already moving to do as the uber said, the pain numbing his body from the numerous beatings and forced entries into the matrix. With his head beginning to thump with the remains of the previous headache, Harper wearily rose to his feet wanting it to end. Struggling with his hands still tied behind his back, Harper eventually managed to reach full height.

"Next time faster," Rico observed with disgust, the young uber probably only a couple of years older than Harper circled the human but he knew that Harper was responding to him now, as a slave should and he smiled with victory.

"You are now my main slave, you will work directly for me," Rico announced and looked at Harper for a response, but saw none. "You will be re-branded as a slave, and you will not dare to humiliate my family ever again."

Harper remained sullen, simply listening to Rico without reaction. Inside he wanted to scream and shout, this wasn't how it was suppose to be and he knew he was not a slave, there was no way he'd be marked twice. His eyes now looked at Rico with disgust, the uber was scum in the nastiest sense and Harper's anger intensified as he realised he was mourning Darla's death more than her own brother. He now regretted the manner in which he had hastily killed the female, finding to his surprise that he resented Beka more now for stopping him killing Rico to justify Darla's death.

"Take him away to be branded, then bring him to engineering, you have five minutes," Rico ordered and immediately Harper struggled as the guards took hold of his tied arms.

"Get off me!" Harper yelled as he furthered his protests, making it as difficult as possible for the guards to get a firm grip on him.

A right hook stunned him enough to make Harper stop, but somehow he had remained standing, and was able to recover quickly to look back at Rico. The uber looked incensed and out of control for the moment with his eyes wide. Harper saw for the first time the man's apparent desperation and desire to control him, but only knowing violence as a means of doing so. It both assured Harper he was still capable of defeating the uber, but at the same time he was worried about the lengths with which the uber might go, in order to achieve his aim. It had all the markings bordering on obsession now and that look in an uber's eyes directed at you was always a bad sign, that Harper knew all too well from his years on Earth.

"You fooled me into thinking you were a willing slave now," Rico calmly spoke, but through gritted teeth.

"I find you're an easy fool to fool," Harper returned, with new resilience, ignoring now the pains in his body, as the guards attempted to hurt him.

"Open communications to the Andromeda," Rico ordered sharply, before turning to Harper and drawing a knife from his belt. "Now, slave, you will tell me the rest of the procedure to overriding the Andromeda's computer," Rico declared then pressed the blade to Harper's throat.

"Slit my throat now, it will save you time later," Harper sneered, feeling the blade.

"Boss," a voice hurriedly came through the communication from the Andromeda. "We've managed to gain control of most of the ship's systems with the earlier access the kludge gave us."

"What, no," Harper responded on instinct. "There's no way, I only gave the minimum of access," he blurted before Rico placed the blade closer to his throat for silence.

"My men are smarter than you think, slave, you will be punished later for underestimating them!" Rico snapped, returning his attention to the communication.

Harper listened intently, as Rico began to converse with his men on the Andromeda before it finally began to make sense, as the voice of the other man, even though distorted, became familiar.

'Rhade' Harper realised with relief, never imagining how glad he'd be to hear that uber's voice.

"We will begin docking procedures, are all the other men in position?" Rico asked. "I'm having trouble raising them."

"The men are in position, sir," the voice returned. "We think the ship put up a dampening field to block some transmissions, hence why my voice is distorted."

"We'll fix that this end," Rico demanded without hesitation and before a response could be heard he cut communications. "Take the kludge to engineering and hook him to the system, we need a slave on the inside to synchronise docking procedures, and I want him to sort out the communications problem to aid our arrival on the Andromeda."

This time Harper willingly allowed the guards to escort him away, knowing that Rhade at least had been able to infiltrate Rico's plans gave him some hope that all was not what it seemed on the Andromeda, and it was enough to play along with until an opportunity arose.

They walked until they reached the engineering section, and Harper was roughly pushed against the nearest console and before he had a chance to protest the two men ensured he remained docile as they laid two heavy punches to his gut and face. In the disorientation Harper was secured to the console, his arms above his head, and he was now practically sitting against the unit with his legs on the deck. The cloudy feeling in his head soon faded, allowing Harper to open his eyes feeling fresh blood on his lips, most probably from a bloodied nose, but he had no time to dwell on that as his crude connector lead once again came into focus and suddenly fresh pain consumed him, as he was forced to connect once more to the ships matrix in a rush of colour and confusion.

TBC


	41. Chapter 41

Part 41

Beka continued to tug at her restraints; it had been a too long since she'd seen Rico drag Harper away, leaving her to be dumped in a small room and left alone. The rope around her wrists was finally starting to give, and ignoring the burn marks that had appeared on her skin, Beka was at last able to remove the rope. Quickly untying the restraints around her ankles, she got to her feet and tested the door, finding it locked.

With frustration she hit the door, before composing her thoughts. It was concerning her that she could hear no sounds from outside, and that she had been left alone, allowing for her mind to play games as she imagined the horrors that could be happening, taunting her and making her more determined to get out and at least try to do something.

Feeling the need to test the door again, Beka did all she could to try and move it before feeling the wall, the lack of light made it difficult to see anything but her hands felt only a smooth surface.

"Damn you, open you stupid door!" Beka finally yelled, and to her complete surprise the door opened. For a moment Beka just stood there with her eyebrows raised, not quite believing what she had just seen but her common sense quickly stepped in, and she hurried through to begin her escape.

The ship was blanketed in low lighting, as Beka attempted to look up and down the corridor, wondering which way to go. She then noticed blue lights flickering, and then they appeared to run along the wall in sequence. Beka couldn't help thinking that they were telling her the way to go.

"You want me to follow your lights?" Beka asked as she looked around unsure, and with disbelief, her voice low in case she was losing her mind and someone witnessed it.

One light solitarily blinked, and she decided to take that as a yes, so Beka began to follow, tentatively at first until she grew more comfortable in supposedly trusting the ship. Suddenly the lights changed from blue to red, and stopped, so Beka sensing danger stopped and pressed herself up against the wall. Seconds later a solitary Nietzschean walked past, glancing to her right Beka spied lose metal bar that she easily prised away from the bulkhead fittings and before the uber had a chance to wonder what the noise was, he was unconscious on the deck.

"Thanks," Beka gestured upwards to the ship around her, still unsure, but feeling she finally had an ally.

* * *

"Captain, Rico's ship is approaching and attempting to dock," Andromeda announced, as Dylan and Rhade arrived on Command having safely secured all of the intruders.

Dylan nodded towards Trance and resumed command at his console before responding. "Let them think they are in control, Rommie," he finally decided.

"I am sensing their attempts to link to my systems," Andromeda's face appeared on the main view screen now, looking concerned.

"It's ok, Andromeda," Dylan assured her. "We won't let them succeed but we need them on board before we can do anything, so let them proceed."

"It's not that, captain, although I am not exactly happy about allowing intruders access to my matrix," Rommie revealed, now appearing in hologram form beside Dylan. "I sense Harper."

Dylan could see the concern all around him at the mention of their engineer's name. "That kind of makes sense, Harper is being forced to help Rico, we heard Harper over the transmissions when we were dealing with those last two intruders in the conduits," Dylan explained. "It's only natural he would be the one attempting to access your matrix."

Rommie still appeared concerned. "He's jacked into their system, but he's not strong enough for the link he's attempting to establish, captain, no human is, and the link appears to be unstable," she spoke with consideration and care. "Effectively what they are asking him to do is simply too much for a human, even one with a data port and of Harper's skill."

"What do you mean?" Rhade now spoke up.

"I'm not sure exactly what they have done, or how, but it would appear that Rico has placed Harper into a position where he has all of the ships systems, simultaneously working through him," she paused before continuing. "I would imagine it's in a desperate attempt to regain full operating control of the ship that has lost too many essential crew members, and does not have a central intelligence to run without a crew," Rommie answered.

"It's just a Delta class ship, it's supposed to be manned by a minimum crew of ten at least," Rhade pointed out helpfully. "If certain positions are not manned, they are vulnerable; we could take them out before they get just an inch closer."

"We can't, not if Harper is in the position Andromeda is telling us he is in," Dylan returned with concern. "Rico has no crew, but he has Harper jacked in attempting to keep the ship working as if he has."

Rommie briefly nodded her head. "I am detecting only four conscious crew members with Rico, none of which are currently working in an operating capacity, they must be his aides not his crew," Rommie continued with disbelief, her eyes then darted to the side. "I have now also detected Beka who is making her way towards Harper's position."

"Where's the rest of the crew, what happened to them?" Rhade asked.

"From the dead bodies that I have sensed on board, I would say that at one time there was a minimum compliment of crew members, probably when this ship started its journey," Rommie informed them. "But along the way their numbers have halved, and all personnel on board who were in an operating capacity have met unfortunate ends, the body count on that ship, captain, is unusually high."

"I can only imagine what has been going on there, I just hope that Beka and Harper are not the only reason for these unfortunate ends," Dylan stated diplomatically.

"Captain, our concern now should be for Harper's welfare, if he continues to do the work being asked of him then I fear we might lose him, either in death or due to brain damage," Rommie stated sombrely. "We can't let that happen, we have to get him out of there, out of that system."

"So let me get this straight, Harper is multitasking the operations of an entire ship?" Dylan attempted to understand.

"In a sense, yes," Rommie agreed. "Attempting to do my job," she added to emphasise the seriousness of the situation.

"But you perform hundreds, probably thousands of different tasks in a blink of an eye with ease, a human couldn't possibly be expected to do even two or three of those roles at once," Trance exclaimed.

"Harper is already weakened by the workload being asked of him, and his connection to the mainframe is not the best, his actual connection is not stable," Rommie frowned. "Permission to help him, sir?" she then asked to Dylan.

"Do what you can to help him, of course do what you can, just don't give our position away, or let your presence be known until we're ready," Dylan ordered and Rommie blinked out of sight.

"I won't be able to directly help Harper, my presence could cause him further distress and possibly overload him with information, the confusion of my presence alone could send him into a fatal form of shock," Rommie then spoke from the main screen. "I will attempt to take the weight of the ship's main operating systems, navigation mainly, and then guide the ship in under my control, and then hopefully the less work for Harper should help him, and ease the pressure on him."

"Good," Dylan confirmed happy, before turning to his command crew. "Rhade, Trance, go and talk to Yussuf, explain that we are bringing Rico in and that we need a united front, strength in numbers for that moment we reveal to Rico who really has control of my ship," Dylan partly smiled.

"Colin and his father are talking things through, I will let them know also," Trance smiled warmly, before leaving command with Rhade.

Dylan turned back to the approaching ship, knowing things were still far from settled, as he turned his focus towards the final battle knowing two of his crew were still in Rico's grasp, he couldn't afford to let things go wrong in his planning now.

* * *

Beka somehow sensed now that she was being led to engineering for a reason, and her fear mounted as she got closer, still being guided by the blue light that for some reason was growing weaker and was barely a flicker now, she could only just make it out, as she approached the section it had led her to.

Without a weapon, Beka needed to think on her feet and she glanced around for anything that she could use to defend herself, should the need arise. She could hear Rico now, he was with at least four other men and they seemed to be in good spirits, talking loudly and generally having a good conversation. They appeared happy, and this rang alarm bells in Beka's mind, before she then caught a glimpse of a nearby view screen, and she saw the looming sight of the Andromeda.

There was no way she would allow anyone to take over her home from home, not wanting to consider that Rico's arrival, and seemingly easy approach, could mean that the Andromeda was already lost. With haste she hurried across the engineering deck, and quickly found the first thing she could to arm herself with, a nano welder was as good as anything she considered, still alert to the voices of the ubers nearby. Slowly she approached the area where the voices were loudest, and then took a sharp intake of breath as she spotted Harper, he was alone and secured to the console, out of sight from the ubers and she curse their arrogance knowing that it meant they felt Harper was in no position to try and escape.

"Harper," Beka whispered, as she tentatively knelt beside him, but he was jacked in and unconscious to the world around him. His arms were tightly secured above his head, his hands already a slight blue colour from the restraints. His head hung forward slightly and fresh blood still dripped from a cut lip and recent nose bleed, there were other bruises about his head that hadn't been there the last time Beka had seen Harper.

She had seen Harper in some bad scrapes but in that moment he looked the weakest that she had ever seen him, and looked as though he was being used as a punch bag for fun. With care she lifted his head, and gently pushed it back so it was against the console, and rested against his raised arm. She took in with more care the damage to Harper, and saw both his eyes were now swollen shut from black eyes, and the make shift lead plugged into Harper's port was looking decidedly unstable, the heat it was producing around Harper's port was leaving his neck red, the smell of electricity was strong in the air around him.

"Harper," Beka spoke again, but there was still no response. Unlike the other times she had seen Harper in the matrix, this time he looked tense, uncomfortable and far from relaxed, this was not the usual blissful slumber of being jacked in. His body then jerked and seemed pained, and every so often his face would twitch, as though he was suffering from a bad dream or nightmare, she wondered if he was trapped in a living nightmare.

For a moment she considered removing the jack in Harper's port, but in her mind she was reminded of a more youthful energetic Harper telling her with far too much enthusiasm about the dangers of an unplanned disconnection. Bobby too had given her that speech, a few moons ago now, just with less enthusiasm. Feeling helpless now, Beka could only move to sit beside Harper and hold him, until a better option became apparent, hoping Harper would disconnect soon.

"Touching, but he's mine, and the slave is busy so hands off my property," Rico announced, as he arrived in front of Beka, surrounded by his guards.

With clear bitterness Beka held Harper tighter, as Rico and his men approached. "Harper belongs to no one but himself, the sooner you figure that out the better for all of us," she announced defiantly.

"I could have sworn I'd locked you up and threw away the key," Rico dismissed easily, before continuing. "You have lost, Beka Valentine, the Andromeda is now mine, this kludge is now mine and that poor excuse for a ship littering my docking bay is also now mine," Rico announced as Beka just glared back at him. "In fact, you're on my property, so I guess you are mine now too."

Beka just smirked. "You wouldn't be able to handle me, not even for a minute so don't even think about it."

"Is that so?" Rico seemed to find her words intriguing. "I heard you have a thing for Nietzscheans, maybe I need to see how much of a match you are for me."

"You know something, for a Nietzschean, you're severely lacking in anything that constitutes brains," Beka returned sharply, reluctantly leaving Harper's side as she got to her feet to confront Rico. "You say you're in control but who really has the control here?"

Rico's eyes glanced down to the prone human for a moment before returning to Beka. "I have control of this situation, and that kludge works for me."

"Do you even know what he's doing in there?" Beka questioned.

"He's guiding this ship to the Andromeda, that is obvious if you just check the screens," he gestured arrogantly.

"Little tip, boy," Beka now partly smiled, showing her own form of arrogance. "This engineer, he works for me, but I don't own him, and he has worked for me for over five years, hey, closer to ten now and you know what?" Beka questioned but didn't wait for an answer. "He's my best friend, I treat him as a brother, and we're close, ok? You want to know how I got here, how I escaped, you're looking at the answer," she gestured assuredly to Harper. "He's in control."

"Ridiculous," Rico simply said before Beka continued.

"I would do anything to ensure no harm comes to him, can't always prevent it, in fact I fail a lot on that score, he attracts trouble, but if I can, I stop it," Beka stressed, and just as Rico was about to gesture to his men to shut her up, Beka stepped closer. "But after all that, I would never, ever give him the freedom of a ships matrix after I have pissed him off enough that he clearly wants to kill me, and you know why?" she asked brightly. "Because I'm not that stupid."

"You don't understand," Rico remained smiling, and for the moment gestured to his men to back off as he brushed some stray hairs from Beka's face. "He has no freedom in there, none at all, because he's trapped and unable to do anything other than operate this ship, all of this ship, every last detail," Rico announced. "He's too preoccupied and overloaded with information to even remember who he really is, because he's so busy in there."

Beka's features noticeably wavered as she glanced back at her prone friend, and in that moment Rico grabbed her arm. "Your friend, Valentine, is a slave to my ship now, a slave to me," Rico emphasised. "He's just a bunch of reactions and instincts that best serve this ship, simply the means of getting it from one place to another. Maybe he did help you escape, but he probably doesn't know why, it was just instinct, not will."

"He can't sustain that sort of control, it's too much, you're killing him so how does that help you? You need him!" Beka exclaimed with panic to the news, as it quickly sunk in.

"I just need him to get my ship from one place to another, outside the Andromeda, to the inside, and his job is almost done, that's if he lasts that long," Rico announced with a broad amused smile. "The Andromeda has its own slave to the system, a ship's avatar, she's stronger and more able than a stupid kludge, so I shall assume command of her very soon, and then dismiss this ship to decay in space where it will be used only for target practice."

"It's too much for him," Beka stated, fearful of Harper's situation now, seeing his tense body in a different light now, understanding and knowing now that he was fighting for his life trapped within a ship's mainframe but unable to leave, unable to do anything but respond to the flood of information being poured into his consciousness by the many systems of the ship's mainframe.

"Take her away," Rico ordered dismissively. "I wouldn't want her to witness her friends painful end, so let her imagine it instead, I'm sure it will be worse that way," Rico stated, with a sickening grin.

"No, I'm not leaving," Beka determined and moved away, remembering the nano welder she had retrieved, as she activated it to stop the men approaching her.

"You can't do anything to help the kludge, he's my slave, my property," Rico announced with a bored disinterested air, as Beka frantically kept the men at bay. "We're almost docked, so the kludge is serving me well."

Beka allowed herself a quick glance at the screen, seeing the hanger bay doors of the Andromeda opening to their full capacity to allow Rico's ship entry. Beka returned her attention to the men, inside she willed Harper to just stop whatever it was he was doing, but she could only imagine the amount of information he was dealing with at one time, and she realised he probably wasn't even aware of what he was doing.

"If I can't do anything, then why can't I just stay with him?" Beka then asked her voice softer. "You plan to kill him, and then me most probably, so just let me stay, I only have a nano welder, so you know I can't hurt you."

Rico considered her request and sighed. "Kludges are all the same, sentimental idiots," he dismissed. "Fine, stay with him, you're right you can't do anything to help him now so what him suffer, watch him die if that's what you want, you'll be dead soon enough anyway."

Moving across the deck, Rico ordered one of his men to stay and keep an eye on Beka, as she moved and settled down next to Harper again. Without a word she simply held her friend, and hoped that somehow they would both get out of this mess alive.

TBC


	42. Chapter 42

Part 42

She had kept her distance but had taken the strain of the enemy ship's systems, allowing Harper to deal with only two of the lesser strains of the operating systems. Andromeda had successfully linked her core memory to that of Rico's ship, and had been guiding the ship towards her hanger bay for the past few minutes.

"Harper, can you hear me?" Rommie finally whispered, so as not to alarm her engineer.

She couldn't see him; she could only sense him all around her as she submerged herself into Rico's ship's system. "Try to focus, Harper, its imperative that you regain your focus," she encouraged gently, making no attempts to reach out and try and find where Harper's main consciousness was located within the matrix.

Satisfied that she had the control she wanted, and that she had relieved Harper of the worse of the strain, she returned to her own self and appeared in hologram form in the meeting room where Dylan was conducting an impromptu meeting.

For a moment Rommie glanced around the room, seeing Colin and his father, then Yussuf, Kane, and even Dani amongst proceedings, along with Rhade and Trance. Pangs of loss filled her now, she missed her android self, and she desperately missed the presence of both Beka and Harper, she felt incomplete as she observed proceedings.

"Rommie, how are things going?" Dylan then turned to her, on noticing her entrance to the meeting.

"I have gained control of Rico's ship, and I am guiding the craft into the hanger bay, arrival in five minutes," she announced precisely. "Harper appears unawares of my work and I am worried that I have been unable to get even some of his attention," Rommie admitted.

"The stress might contribute to that, he could be completely disorientated," Trance offered.

"His brain has undergone immense trauma of late, this latest attack on his mind comes close after that of the sleep deprivation device, when the Patriarch held him hostage," Rommie reminded them. "I fear this could have pushed him too far, and that I was too slow in giving him the help he needed."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," Dylan decided and got to his feet. "Now I want all personnel trained for combat to be ready to surround Rico's ship when it docks," he ordered briskly.

"Harper is strong in mind," Trance suddenly announced, just as the gathered people were making to move. "But weaker in body, we need to act quickly when our opportunity arises."

Dylan stared at Trance with slight amusement. "Didn't we just cover that?"

"I felt it needed to be said, we can not afford to lose Harper now," Trance stated, as she got to her feet. "He might be more aware than we are giving him credit for."

"Losing Harper at any time is not an option, Trance, we realise the situation, and if Harper is more aware than we realise then the fact he has needed our help to this point makes the situation even more urgent, in that we get him out of that system, and off that ship," Dylan responded bluntly. "So now it's time for action, and less talking."

Trance simply nodded her head, as they all left the meeting room after her.

* * *

Beka continued to glare at the guard who now stood watching her and Harper, wishing she could do something to help Harper. She had seen him through some rough times but right now she felt so helpless, he was with her but at the same time so far away that she couldn't possibly get through to him.

"We are almost docked!" Rico exclaimed with youthful excitement. "So soon, my people, we shall rule this sector and claim the great Andromeda as our flagship of power!"

Beka simply smirked. "Yeah, life is always so simple that you can just waltz onto a galaxy class high guard warship and play your silly little fantasies out to your hearts content," she sneered.

"I have planned this so that my arrival would signal the final blow, the final nail in the coffin of Captain Hunt's ridiculous cause," Rico returned, with equal sneer. "My men have already overrun your precious ship, and now it is mine for the taking."

"You know something, jerk?" Beka offered. "I once tried to lay claim to this ship when it was nothing more than a floating heap of derelict junk retrieved from a black hole, I didn't get far, Dylan Hunt simply doesn't allow any chancer passing by to have his ride," she stated confidently.

"We'll see about that," Rico declared, and on cue the ship slightly rocked as it safely docked. "Your little kludge's job is now done."

"But you remember that if this little trick is going to kill him, this ship will blow and so it seems pretty dumb to me to leave it lying around on the hanger deck," Beka observed.

"It's why my men and myself will be departing now, the ship is already pre-programmed, with the help of the kludge, to leave in approximately three minutes," Rico returned smugly.

"So we'll just drift off to explode when one of us finally dies?" Beka observed tiredly.

"Neat and tidy, just how I like to do business," Rico responded.

A flurry of footsteps were heard, but too late for anyone to react as the engineering section was suddenly surrounded by makeshift soldiers, all armed and in position to take Rico down at any moment. Rico simply turned around and put his hand on the knife he carried in his belt, attempting to understand what was happening around him.

"What is this? A revolt?" Rico demanded angrily, spinning around as things became clear, and with sudden confusion he quickly realised something wasn't right.

"These are not your men, your men are safely locked up on my ship," Dylan announced. "So I prefer this being called a trick, and you're the one we played it on, you see your men were defeated over three hours ago," Dylan continued, as he moved forward so Rico could see him. "My ship has been controlling your ship for the past hour, my weapons officer has been pretending to be your man on the inside for the same amount of time, Rico, you're an amateur," Dylan confirmed, with his force lance aimed.

"I will kill them both," Rico warned gesturing to Beka and Harper who he stood closest to, and his voice was tense, as he attempted to still sound in control edging closer to Harper.

"Oh please, give it up already, Rico," Beka stressed, adjusting her position slightly so she could protect the still prone Harper. "You're surrounded and can I remind you that you're a little outnumbered?"

"This kludge has programmed his life signs to this ship, if his heart stops beating, the ship blows," Rico informed everyone loudly, regaining his confidence. "They are so weak, humans, which is an advantage in this case," Rico declared, and he pulled on his knife, as he slowly withdrew it from his belt. "Now, you will all back the hell off, or we all die."

"Don't do it, Rico," Kane's voice now spoke up, as he moved forward. "You can still walk away from all of this with your reputation in tact, if you just move away from them both," Kane added, seeing his younger brother remaining by Harper and Beka's side.

"Do what, brother?" Rico protested innocently before he suddenly lunged forward with rage, and Beka could only attempt to stop the out of control Nietzschean, as he brought the knife down on Harper a couple of times despite Beka's intervention, and finally got a lucky strike across Harper's throat. "That?" Rico was able to speak finally satisfied, as he stepped back showing the bloody knife to the sounds of weapon fire, as Dylan and Rhade reacted to his actions, finally having a clean shot as Rico fell heavily to the deck, already dead before he landed.

"Harper!" Beka stressed with concern, only having managed to divert some of the knife attack away, but still she saw a thin red line now emerging across one side of Harper's neck below his still active data port, and precious blood began to flow freely escaping his body. Not far away, Rico's body was being dragged away.

"Captain," Rommie's voice suddenly sounded. "Yussuf and some of his men have left the ship, and they are attempting to access my systems on the Andromeda."

"Are they having any success?" Dylan wearily asked.

"I still have your security procedures in place, I am only answering to you," Rommie confirmed.

"Good," Dylan sighed heavily, satisfied that Yussuf wouldn't get very far with any attempts to take the ship for the moment.

"Dylan, may I deal with this situation, and allow you to deal with things here?" Kane offered.

Dylan considered the request, glancing at Harper as both Trance and Rhade went to his side to assist Beka, as she rapidly worked to untie his arms from the console. He could see that Kane was determined to deal with Yussuf, and after some though he simply nodded his head, watching Kane gesture to some of the remaining soldiers, including Colin and his father, as they hurried away.

"Dylan?" Beka questioned confused. "You're letting them deal with Yussuf? When he's trying to take your ship?" she added.

"Its time someone from this system dealt with Yussuf, and Andromeda will let me know if things change and he gets lucky," Dylan decided. "I need to ensure my own crew are ok, how is he?" he added, looking at the still prone figure of Harper.

"Growing weaker, we have to remove him from the system," Trance stated, glancing at her scanner. She moved forward, with the med pack she had brought with her and retrieved a bandage, giving it to Beka to press against the neck wound. "The knife has cut one of his main arteries in his neck, Beka, you have press this firmly into his neck."

"I know, to stem the flow, I know," Beka said with determined focus.

"I need to check your injuries," Trance offered towards the blond captain, seeing her arms covered in cuts from Rico's attack, but Beka immediately dismissed Trance's attempts to check them.

"It can wait, no main arteries," Beka stressed, not looking away from Harper.

Rommie appeared on a nearby screen, her presence able to be more obvious within Rico's ship now. "I am unable to determine Harper's presence. It appears that his consciousness is spread too thinly for me to locate his actual position."

"What options do we have?" Rhade asked with frustration.

"There is one," Rommie decided, but her expression showed concern.

"Tell us," Dylan ordered.

"I can shut down each of this ship's systems in turn, until the ship is completely offline, with no systems to control, technically Harper should then be able to be disconnected," Rommie informed them.

"The but?" Beka prompted.

"It could also kill Harper, depending on how aware he still is, if he holds onto the system for any reason when I shut it down, it will do damage, possibly permanent," Rommie frowned.

All eyes now turned to Dylan to make the decision, and he hesitated slightly. Beka kept her hand to Harper's neck, with the bandage pressed firmly against the life threatening wound. The blood trickled from Harper's other knife wounds after the attack reminding Dylan that time was not on their side, and he remembered that Harper had looked in bad shape even before the Nietzschean had partly slit his throat.

"Do it, Andromeda, begin shutting the systems down," Dylan decided. "We have no other choice."

There was silence as Rommie complied with the order, and both Trance and Beka moved to try and comfort Harper as his body began to twitch with each system shut down.

"Hold in there, Seamus," Beka spoke with concern.

"He won't make it, his life signs are growing weaker," Trance stressed, as she checked her medical scanner.

"He'll make it, he won't give up without a fight," Rhade stated with conviction.

Dylan looked on without emotion, unable to completely comprehend what he was possibly witnessing before him, as they battled to save Harper.

* * *

Kane walked briskly through the corridors of the Andromeda, knowing what he had to do, having just seen his only brother shot down for a pointless cause. That was it, Kane considered, enough was enough and he was not going to idly stand by any longer to watch lives being destroyed around him.

"Kane, wait up," Dani's voice sounded.

"Dani, I thought you would stay with your friend," Kane spoke, without looking at Dani as she got into step with him.

"I have," Dani answered.

"I meant Harper," Kane responded, focused on his task.

"And I mean you," Dani returned. "Seamus has enough people watching out for him, you need a little support right now, and you know what, I really want to see you kick Yussuf's butt."

"I'm not planning on kicking Yussuf's butt," Kane had to smile.

"You are planning on stopping him though?" Dani checked.

"Yeah, things need to be said," Kane confirmed and turned a corner as he gestured to the men around him to arm their weapons. "You know, Dani, in a way I'm doing this because of you."

"Me? Hey, don't blame me, you volunteered to do this," Dani protested lightly.

Kane smiled again. "I mean you pointed out something that I needed to hear, that I hadn't realised," he offered. "We've all been controlled in some way by that man without even knowing it, and it has to stop, now is as good a time as any. Maybe my brother wasn't all that bad, he'd just had enough, and realised it before I could but he lost focus and became consumed by something Yussuf had denied him all his life, control," Kane explained with passion. "I intend to continue his work now against Yussuf and destroy the man's influence and tyranny in this system."

"Mind if I tag along?" Dani asked brightly.

"I thought you were planning on leaving the system, leaving all this behind, maybe pursing your friendship with Harper?" Kane stated, as he armed his own weapon.

Dani didn't answer and soon they were on command and waiting for Yussuf to acknowledge them.

"Ah, so the rest of my pride finally decide to turn up," Yussuf declared arrogantly. "Hey, Kane, take a look at these systems will you, we can't figure them out."

"No," Kane calmly answered, and it was enough to get Yussuf's attention. "You will stop your futile attempts to take this ship, there is a complete lockdown, you will never be able to access the systems. If you had been paying attention earlier, instead of ranting, maybe you would have already known that."

"Excuse me?" Yussuf asked, clearly taken aback by a loyal subject of his pride talking to him in such a way. "Kane, care to explain your attitude, are you mocking me?"

"It's over, and has been for a while," Kane declared and gestured for weapons to be aimed. "My brother initiated your downfall, now I'm going to ensure his death wasn't completely in vain."

Yussuf took in the number of weapons now trained on him, and glanced around with concern to his own men who had so far failed to react. "Are you going to allow your leader to be spoken to like this? To be threatened in this manner?"

"Are you going to continue following a man who has lost everything, especially any respect he once had?" Kane countered to Yussuf's men. "He has no more riches to make your lives ridiculously comfortable, you stick with him, and you'll be living on handouts and on the run for the rest of your lives."

"Kane speak the truth," Dani spoke up now, moving to Kane's side in support. "Yussuf has used us all, and now it's our time to stand on our own feet, this is our system once more, are we simply going to hand it back to a man who only abuses the power we gave him?"

"Dani, my Dani," Yussuf spoke with hurt in his voice.

"You took my life, Yussuf, made me believe what you wanted me to believe by giving me comfort, but it's over, you can't use me anymore," Dani answered bluntly. "You tried to give me everything I wanted, but never my freedom; you hid that from me by blinding me with wealth and privileges."

"I wanted only the best for you, Dani, only the best I could give you," Yussuf responded, clearly distraught.

"I know, honestly this hurts me as much as it hurts you, and you'll always mean so much to me but this is the end, it's over, you can't be allowed to control us or this system any more. I've broken the damage you did to my head, I'm thinking clearly for the first time in my life," Dani stressed. "This is what I want now, no riches or comforts, I just want my own free will, I've been told too much, seen too much and finally I'm able to make up my own mind," she added with joy.

"That kludge," Yussuf sneered, about to launch into a rant but Dani stepped forward with purpose.

"No," Dani insisted loudly. "He won't get the blame for this one, Yussuf, you've destroyed yourself by trying to control too many people's lives, this is your fault, you own undoing!"

"Give yourself up, and allow me to make the first step in stopping all this, maybe give you a chance to see the errors of your ways, and begin to give this system some real genuine hope," Kane requested calmly.

Yussuf looked around and saw little support for him from his own men, only weapons and uncertainty and after a moment he threw his hands up. "I will offer my defeat, but just for the moment, Kane, for you, and for Dani if this is what you want of me and for those too scared to stand with me right now," Yussuf declared. "But I can not tell you that this, whatever this really is, is over," he added defiantly.

Kane looked to Colin, who in turn gestured to two other men and they went to Yussuf with caution, before securing him. Dani couldn't hide her smile and she turned to Kane, as the Nietzschean stood tall watching Yussuf being led towards the brig, and she eagerly offered him a hug, and they embraced closely with their first taste of success.

TBC


	43. Chapter 43

Part 43

"Harper, I can feel you, you need to disconnect now before I completely shut down the final system. I don't want to lose you."

"Andromeda?" Dylan's voice disturbed her thoughts and Rommie flashed onto the screen before her crew mates. "How many of the ship's systems are there to go before complete shut down?" Rico's ship was now in near darkness, and eerily quiet with the few systems that remained online.

"Only the basic elements of the core operating system are still active, those controlling this console, and the doors," Rommie answered. "I have set all the doors to open, so that we may leave once complete shutdown is initialised."

"Can we disconnect Harper now?" Beka asked.

"His connection is still fluctuating, the cable he is using was never adequate for the task and has hindered my attempts to help, or communicate with, him," Rommie confirmed.

"He only made it to access the system for a few minutes, never for this," Beka remembered sadly, her hand aching from pressing the bandage to her friend's wounded neck, but not caring, determined to help him in any way she could.

"We have to do this now, or it may be too late," Trance insisted.

"I was hoping I might have been able to talk Harper into disconnecting before I switched the final system off," Rommie returned with obvious concern.

"We're all agreed that this is what we have to do," Dylan stated, and in turn each of the crew nodded their head in agreement to disconnecting Harper manually from the ship's mainframe. With their united approval, Dylan stepped forward in front of the Harper. "Andromeda, shut down the rest of the systems, we'll see you outside," Dylan stated and moved his hand to Harper's port, with one final glance at the concerned faces of his crew, Dylan pulled the connector out of Harper's port and instantly dropped it as it sparked dangerously in his hold.

Harper's body immediately relaxed and slumped into Beka's hold, and she immediately took his weight being careful not to relax the pressure she had to his neck but to everyone's surprise after a brief moment of calm Harper suddenly became animated, sitting up and he struggled in Beka's hold.

"Whao, Harper calm down, it's ok," Beka assured him, but couldn't keep the pressure on his neck, as he frantically thrashed about.

"Where," Harper gasped out in pain, as his face grimaced, and he reached out with his hands. "I can't see, I'm blind, Rico, no," he managed in short panicked breaths, clearly struggling to understand the sudden influx of new information having returned to his own body.

"Seamus, its ok," Trance now moved to quickly reassure the human. "You're injured, you need to stay still, Seamus, you're eyes are swollen shut, you are not blind, it's ok," she stressed, rubbing his arms in a calming manner but with his continued panicked movements she could see he was unable to comprehend her words, and more seriously he was losing precious blood from his neck wound.

Rhade had also seen that Harper was harming himself by his frantic panicking, and got a tight hold on the human to restrain him, despite the smaller man's confused and continued protests. Trance quickly took the opportunity to retrieve a sedative from the med pack, and she wasted no time in administering it, as Beka replaced the bandage, to once more stem the blood flow.

"We need to get him to med deck, he's losing too much blood and his life signs are growing weaker," Trance spoke with haste, seeing that Harper's little outburst had soaked up the last of his energy, as perspiration covered him now.

"Rhade," Dylan gestured to the Nietzschean to assist Trance, and with Beka they urgently transported Harper to medical.

* * *

"You can trap me in this cell but you know it won't hold me, this won't stop me," Yussuf declared loudly, his rants had been sounding for the past ten minutes since they'd locked him up.

Kane stood outside, out of sight from Yussuf but hearing every word. His arms were wrapped around his body, as he tried to calm down his nerves, and accept what he had done had been right.

"He's just talk now," Dani quietly spoke, not wanting Yussuf to hear her. "We have to believe that," she added.

"I feel sick," Kane admitted. "Not very Nietzschean though, is it?" he smirked. "We're supposed to be arrogant in victory, not sick," he mocked himself, and failed to notice the two men who arrived to join him.

"Not necessarily," Rhade spoke up having heard Kane's admission, as he stopped before the younger Nietzschean, Dylan stood beside him. "We are only superior humans after all," he added with a wry smile that seemed to help Kane relax.

"How's Seamus?" Dani asked towards Dylan.

"It looks bad, he's on med deck at the moment so we've left them to it, Trance is doing all she can to help him," Dylan moved forward, and took in the sight of Yussuf and a few of his supporters in the brig. "Did he come quietly?" he then asked towards Kane.

"Not exactly quietly, but there was an ounce of willingness about it," Kane observed with a smirk.

"Captain Hunt, don't you dare believe you have won this!" Yussuf loudly declared on seeing, and hearing the High Guard Captain. "Is Dani there? I want to speak to my Dani, you've brainwashed her, told her lies!"

Dani shrugged towards Dylan, as he looked at her. "Funny," she quietly remarked. "It's like I'm hearing him for the first time, and hearing the crap he spews," she sighed.

"I know what you mean, he must have had some powerful hold on us all and we just never knew, I'm not even sure how we broke the spell," Kane offered as he rubbed his face. "Can I leave him with you now?" Kane wearily asked Dylan. "I want to get away from his mad rants, just in case he draws me in again, I need to decide what I'm going to do now."

"Go ahead, and thanks for stopping his attempt to take my ship," Dylan smiled.

"He was never going to get far," Kane offered. "Those men who he rallied to join him were just his barber, dresser and a few decorators, hardly an army even though they were Nietzscheans," he smiled.

Dani moved next to Kane. "Your ship defences were never threatened by them, although they might have given your ship an extreme makeover if we hadn't stopped them," she smiled pleased to see the others smile with her, before she hesitated. "I've decided that I'm going to be helping Kane with his plans for this sector, I've agreed to work with him, with stuff, in helping this sector," she added awkwardly.

"That's quite a task ahead of you," Dylan observed. "Any assistance you need, you know we'll do what we can, with the limited resources we have," Dylan added.

"Things have changed for all of us, captain, with the reappearance of Tarn Vedra, your home, and the Commonwealth as it is," Kane stated. "Maybe we'll be helping each other in time," he offered, then turned to Dani. "We should see if we can retrieve anything of my brother's ship, I'd like it to be the beginnings of my own command," he smiled. "Will it be ok to keep the ship on board until such a time we can get it operational again?"

"Of course, you are welcome on board for as long as you need, use whatever you need from my ship to assist you, just keep me informed," Dylan confirmed. "Dani, will you want to visit Harper?" Dylan asked, as he saw Dani and Kane make to leave.

"Yeah," Dani absently answered. "But when he's up to visits, I don't want to disturb the others or his recovery," she then saw something in both Dylan and Rhade's expressions. "He will be ok, right?"

"We have to hope," Dylan simply said. "We'll keep you informed," he added, before Kane encouraged Dani to leave with him, and they walked into the corridor, behind them hearing Yussuf yelling more obscenities towards Dylan, as the captain turned his attention to the prisoner.

Kane kept glancing at Dani as they walked along the corridor, until she caught him and stopped walking. "What?"

"You used to speak of love for the human, Harper, now he is ill, his life in danger, and you barely seem concerned," Kane observed with caution.

"I do care," Dani returned sharply, and then looked away. "It's just I feel you need my support more, Seamus has all the help he needs right now, me hanging around won't do anything to help him."

Kane took hold of her arms, and made sure she was looking at him. "I appreciate that you want to help me, you don't know how much it means to me to see you thinking for yourself, using your own mind and beating the control Yussuf had on you, on your own," he stressed. "But Seamus Harper was not a part of Yussuf's hold on you, don't push him away in the same way you are pushing Yussuf from your life."

"Yes he was, Kane, Harper was all about Yussuf's hold on me and I can't be stupid enough to think otherwise, not the way things are now, not now I've come so far," Dani dismissed, speaking quickly and with confidence. "I felt what I did for Harper because Yussuf wanted me to, it was all a part of his plan to get this damn ship," she exclaimed with anger. "I still feel something for Harper, it's true, but I also know that Yussuf won that one, I have to move on, I will never be able to look at Seamus again without wondering how much of my feelings are mine, and how much are Yussuf's wishes," she explained.

"Is that fair to Harper, to decide all this without him having a say?" Kane asked with care.

"I doubt after all Harper's been through, that he'll be completely convinced or sure of what we actually had together, if it was ever the real thing," Dani admitted.

Kane nodded his head, aware enough of Yussuf's use of Harper to know that Dani was in part being realistic. "Give him a chance, that's all I ask, you just never know, Dani," he offered warmly. "Maybe the two of you can defy Yussuf, maybe he did want this and brought you together, but maybe the two of you want something different, something stronger; just don't be so quick to dismiss what you had together."

"I'll see him, when he's better, and talk if we have to, if he even wants to," Dani simply said and began walking again, leaving Kane to frown, before moving to catch up with her.

* * *

Dylan and Rhade joined up with Beka as they waited in a quieter section of the med deck, Trance soon arrived and they exchanged concerned glances before she spoke.

"For the moment he's stable at least," Trance began, avoiding eye contact in an attempt to remain professional. "I have him on life support only as a precaution, but his life signs are growing stronger."

"That's a relief," Beka remarked.

"Has he suffered any damage?" Rhade asked.

"It's too early to say, but the signs are positive," Trance offered brightly. "His scans are not showing any irregularities," she added. "I think Rommie reached him in time, his brain waves and patterns are showing only mild signs of trauma."

"When will he wake up?" Dylan asked, glancing over to the human who was surrounded by machines at the other end of the deck.

"Could be at any time, but I am hoping he stays unconscious for a few more hours to allow his body more time to heal," Trance offered with a sigh. "His eyes are still partially swollen shut, and we don't want a repeat of the last time he woke up," she added.

Beka crossed her arms, remembering all too well. "Is his neck ok?"

"It was a clean cut at least, so I have been able to seal the wound, he should suffer no further effects, and he won't even have a scar," Trance smiled.

"Sounds like the little man has once again defied the odds," Rhade remarked, then paused as he turned to Beka. "So tell me is it true that he can see again?" he added.

"It's true, the treatment somehow worked, and he can see just fine," Beka smiled, with relief evident on her face. "I never thought he would see again, a few hours ago I wasn't even sure he'd breathe again but somehow he always pulls through."

"Trance," Rommie's voice suddenly broke through and Trance needed no further words, as she hurried past the gathered crew and made her way back to Harper's side. An alarm was sounding from one of the machines, and Trance wasted no time in checking Harper's vitals.

"What's going on?" Beka immediately asked, reaching Harper's side.

"Something's wrong," Trance could only reply as she frantically worked, preparing an injector and administering some drugs into Harper's system.

"What kind of wrong, Trance, talk to us," Dylan demanded, seeing nothing obvious.

Trance continued working before she spoke again to answer Dylan's question. "Harper's brain activity is fluctuating dangerously, it's gone from an almost coma like state of deep sleep, to one of high activity in the space of a few minutes, this is not good, not considering," she idly spoke as she took some more scans.

"Considering what?" Rhade pushed.

"Considering what Harper suffered after his exposure to the sleep depravation device," Trance returned.

"That was weeks ago," Beka dismissed.

"And those weeks mean nothing when we're dealing with the human brain," Trance snapped. "Harper needed time to recover from the forced removal of that SDD that controlled his brain patterns to prevent sleep, not enough time has passed till now. Harper has been exposed to another form of brain control, by becoming that ship's core control, and I suspect he's been exposed to other forms of control too at the hand of Yussuf," Trance insisted firmly. "I set a monitor to specifically watch out for this, I feared this might occur," she added, concentrating on treating Harper.

"So it's possible he has suffered permanent damage," Dylan concluded.

"It's more possible now that this alarm has sounded," Trance agreed.

"You said there were no irregularities," Beka reminded the golden alien pointedly.

"I was looking for swellings on the brain, irregular patterns that are usually a clear sign of damage, and there were none till this point," Trance offered patiently, finally focusing on Beka as she stood beside Harper's cot. "But the human brain is not that simple, and we have to be realistic."

Beka composed her emotions and sighed before speaking. "But there is a chance he'll be ok?"

"There's still a chance, yes," Trance agreed. "All I can do is try to maintain the balance in his brain's neural activities, to prevent overload and collapse, brain death," she spoke with a degree of seriousness that made the situation clear to all. "I know it looks bad right now, but this is just a minor set back, and so long as I'm able to respond, and treat any further strikes there's no reason that Harper shouldn't fully recover."

"But what if these attacks don't stop?" Beka asked with a frown. "What if they continue even after he was woken up? You can't be with him twenty-four-seven, Trance."

"Then we'll deal with it, if the times comes," Trance responded calmly.

"Trance is right, and it's too early to say when this could mean for Harper," Dylan spoke up. "I suggest we try and get some rest and allow Trance some space to do her work, to help Harper."

Beka and Rhade nodded their heads, and reluctantly moved away under Dylan's direction to leave Trance to her work.

* * *

Dani crawled between consoles and exposed their workings, after a quick glance she moved back to the centre of the room.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with these consoles," Dani announced.

Kane looked up from his work. "They don't work, Dani," he smiled.

"I know," Dani returned. "But I can't see anything wrong," she added.

"Except they don't actually work," Kane offered, without looking up.

"I know," Dani shrugged.

"I'll check them later," Kane offered, as he replaced the plating on the console he was working on.

"Sorry, engineering was never my thing," Dani got to her feet, as Kane stood up. "Is there anything else I could do?"

"Go and see Harper?" Kane requested.

"He hasn't woken up yet," Dani responded, as they began to walk and a short silence followed before Dani spoke again. "I will see him, before we leave."

"What if he's still unconscious?" Kane asked.

"Then I'll keep in touch," Dani stopped, just before they left Rico's ship to step onto the Andromeda's docking bay. "Kane, what is your problem here?"

"My problem?" Kane offered defensively.

"Yeah, you seem to think I don't want to see, or don't care about Harper, you couldn't be more wrong," Dani protested.

"Your lack of concern simply concerns me," Kane offered, and he began to walk again.

"What do you want?" Dani asked, catching up with Kane as they left the ship. "You want me to be an emotional mess, you want me to be with him and away from you, is that what it is? You don't want me with you?" she demanded.

"No, it's not any of those," Kane sighed, as he continued walking. "Just ignore me; I have a lot going on."

"Which is why I'm with you, Kane," Dani insisted, and she reached out to stop him. "We can do this, and do this together, Kane, so we have to stick together and make this work."

"It won't be easy," Kane softly said. "A Nietzschean and a human," he added.

"A Nietzschean and a kludge, you mean," Dani frowned, and turned away.

"No, Dani, that's not it," Kane was quick to speak.

"Isn't it?" Dani checked, unconvinced and she moved away from Kane. "Look, I'll go and see Harper, ok, I'll see you later," she stated and quickly left Kane alone.

TBC


	44. Chapter 44

Part 44

Beka smiled at Trance, as she walked onto Med Deck and headed to where the golden alien was tending to Harper.

"How's he doing?"

"Better," Trance replied. "In fact I think he'll be waking up soon."

"Really?" Beka brightened. "Any more problems?"

"None and it's been five hours," Trance smiled. "He's responding very well to treatment."

Beka now looked at Trance. "Before you and the others rescued us, Dylan and Rhade mentioned to me that for no reason that they could tell, you told them Harper was strong in mind, but weak in body, why did you feel the need to say that, what did it mean?"

Trance fussed over a couple of tubes still connected to Harper's arm, before she responded. "It needed to be said, and I wanted to remind those there of the real situation."

"Harper at the time was overwhelmed within a mainframe and a slave to an entire ship's systems," Beka checked. "What part of that did you think the others didn't quite grasp?"

"Beka, Harper experienced all that, and it appears now that he's suffered no ill effects despite the odds," Trance gestured with a smile. "But his body is still weakened by the injuries he physically received, and he's still in medical because of that, after everything it was his body's injuries that threatened his life the most, not the link."

"I still don't get why you said it," Beka admitted.

"Why does it concern you?" Trance had to ask.

Beka sighed. "Because Trance, I still struggle to try and understand you sometimes."

"Then stop trying," Trance advised with a small smile. "And Beka, he's waking up."

Beka looked at Harper and saw that he was stirring; slowly he opened his eyes and took a moment to focus.

"Hey, Seamus," Beka offered with a smile.

Harper looked sleepily towards her without reacting, and then blinked his eyes a few more times to get his bearings.

"Take your time, Harper," Trance spoke softly, her hand stroking the top of his head. "You've been asleep for quite a while. Are you in any pain?"

Harper shook his head, and seemed relaxed, looking a lot calmer than when he had previously been awake. Slowly he moved his hands to his eyes, and tentatively touched the still bruised marks around his face.

"The swelling has gone down, you're doing fine," Trance assured him.

"Why isn't he speaking?" Beka asked.

"Give him time," Trance requested.

"This is like before, he didn't speak before either, remember?" Beka frowned, remembering Harper's silent behaviour after the removal of the sleep deprivation device.

"No it's not," Harper finally offered wearily. "I'm just tired, it feels like I haven't slept for a week," he added with a touch of confusion.

"The strain of operating all those systems has taken its toll, you'll need complete rest before you can begin to resume your normal duties," Trance offered, holding his hand for reassurance. "Are you sure you're comfortable?"

"My head aches slightly, but I'm ok," Harper responded quietly, and looked at Beka seeing her concern. "I'm ok, promise," he offered, though he looked completely drained of energy.

"You wouldn't be on med deck if you were ok, Seamus," Beka smiled in return. "But I'm glad you're back with us."

"How long will I be here?" Harper asked, feeling the bandage that was around his neck as he spoke.

"As long as you need to be," Trance answered. "You may be awake but you have a way to go yet before you are completely better, but I'll be right here to help you, Seamus, I'm not going anywhere."

"Is that a promise?" Harper responded with a suggestive smile, before suddenly he appeared to freeze. "Hey, wait," Harper suddenly spoke and just stared at Trance for a moment.

"What?" Trance asked, feeling a little concerned by Harper's attention, when he didn't speak.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you," he finally spoke, still revelling slightly in being able to see again, after fearing that his sight had been taken from him again. "I just needed to refresh my memory."

"Give your memory a rest," Trance smiled back, glad that Harper was just messing about. "Now, you should try and get some more rest, I don't want you to over do it."

"Dani," Harper then spoke, and both Beka and Trance were about to question him when they noticed that Dani was stood at the entrance to the med deck.

"Seamus," Dani smiled and moved forward, looking at Trance. "Is it ok if I see him for a moment?" she then asked.

Beka glanced at Trance, and saw that she had nodded her head, before moving to one side. With a shrug, Beka joined Trance as she left Dani alone with Harper.

"How are you feeling?" Dani asked, taking Harper's hand.

"Little foggy, but ok," Harper answered. "Glad you're ok, Dani, didn't exactly get to say goodbye before they dragged me away before."

"I was worried for you," Dani admitted.

"I have that affect on people," Harper glanced at Beka and Trance who were talking on the other side of the deck. He brought his hand up to his forehead, attempting to rub some of the ache away.

"Seamus, I just wanted you to know that I've decided that I'm going to be staying in this system, Kane has decided to help rebuild things around here, and I'm going to help him," Dani stated, then looked unsure. "That's if he still wants me to."

"Why wouldn't he?" Harper asked confused, hardly reacting to the news Dani had told him.

"Uber pride," Dani offered and through their expressions, they both appeared to understand.

"Didn't think Kane was that sort of uber," Harper finally responded. "But least you're finally free, didn't I tell you it could happen," he smiled, and Dani just smiled in return. "So Rico was killed, what happened to Yussuf?"

"He's in the brig, Kane captured him, I kind of helped," Dani recounted distantly, her eyes now looking away from Harper, and he was beginning to sense more to her actions, with little surprise.

"It's ok, Dani," Harper then spoke, and Dani turned her attention back to him. "When I was blind, just the thought of you kept me going, and I'll never forget you for that, but sometimes when you live in the moment like that, that moment can always pass just the same."

"But you know now that we had nothing, not really, it was all planned, it was all a sham," Dani simply added.

Harper was already nodding his head, and then he sighed. "Not all of it, Dani, some of it was real, we just might never know which parts," he stated, appreciating the clear mind he now had, and had guessed Dani was experiencing likewise. "But I realise now that Yussuf was a major part of our relationship, if it was even a relationship."

"This is crazy, you know that," Dani smiled and sighed loudly, and she looked at Harper, still holding his hand fondly.

"That's what you get for being involved with me," Harper wearily returned, with an amused expression.

"I should let you rest, I'm not going anywhere yet," Dani offered, before she lightly kissed his forehead and left his side.

With some caution, Trance approached Harper's bedside. "You really should rest now, Seamus," she ordered.

"Is Beka still here?" Harper asked.

"No, she's gone to tell Dylan and Rhade that you have woken up with no complications," Trance replied and there was silence for a moment before she continued. "Harper, a lot has happened, things will change, what we had will never return."

"What do you mean?" Harper asked, with concern.

"Dylan has his home back, Rhade has his family," Trance offered. "Dani is finally free of Yussuf, and Kane has found his destiny."

"What about me?" Harper asked. "I've lost my home to an explosion, I think I've lost my girl, and I have a slight suspicion that I'm on the brink of losing my sanity."

"I won't ever let that happen, Seamus," Trance assured him fondly, amused by Harper's words.

"I think I'll stick with you then, and Beka, you'll see me all right, right?" Harper half grinned.

Trance showed sadness behind her smile. "My destiny and role in this universe has been fulfilled, Tarn Vedra has been returned to the known worlds," she offered.

"That was your purpose?" Harper questioned quietly, his energy waning, and he saw Trance simply nod her head without further explanation. "So, what now?"

"I've given it a lot of thought," Trance frowned. "Considered ceasing to exist in this body, accepting a new role, taking on a new form," she explained.

"Please don't tell me you're leaving me," Harper panicked slightly.

"I decided to stay," Trance smiled. "I realised that you need me, and after my last destiny, I feel looking out for you will be a lot more fun, and lot less stressful."

"Don't be so sure about that," Harper mocked. "But you know; if you are able to change form and stuff, could you turn back to being my purple pixie?" Harper asked hopefully.

"You never did get use to this look, did you?" Trance shook her head, with amusement.

"Well I think I've just been dumped, Trance, and I feel like serious crap, so I really could use an old friend right now," Harper frowned, and then broke into a smile, as his head rolled slightly with tiredness.

Trance appeared to consider his request before she brushed the side of his face with her hand, seeing how tired he was looking and knowing he needed to rest. "I'll see what I can do, just get some rest first, ok?"

Harper managed to nod his head to agree before his eyelids appeared to grow heavier, and he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Can we talk?" Kane asked, as he tentatively approached Dani. She was sat just inside a conduit on his dead brother's ship, silently working.

"Sure," Dani answered without looking up.

"If this is going to work we can't keep ignoring each other, it's been nearly a day since we last spoke," Kane observed.

"You're prepared to work with a kludge now?" Dani asked.

"Dani," Kane responded with a sigh. "You misinterpreted my concern yesterday, I'm worried about how people will respond to you, not the fact I'll be working with you."

"I went to see Harper, we spoke," Dani continued without reaction.

"And?" Kane asked.

"Nothing has changed, he feels the same as I do," Dani answered, as she tidied up some cable that had become tangled up.

"Hey, you got the navigation systems online," Kane then noticed the lights, and Dani shrugged with modesty.

"I just followed the manual," she smiled.

"We have a manual?" Kane mocked surprise, before he sat down with a heavy sigh.

"What's up?" Dani asked.

"I was reviewing the security logs," Kane said, letting his head drop down to his chest. "I needed to know what happened on board this ship, how Darla died."

Dani appeared to sense a conflict in Kane's expression. "What happened?"

"Harper killed her," he simply said, and brushed his hand through his hair.

"Harper?" Dani checked. "In self defence?"

"In cold blood," Kane quickly answered, holding onto his emotions. "It's not like she didn't deserve something, she was messing with his head in that way she always did mess with people," he offered. "But, still," he couldn't continue as he drifted into his thoughts.

"Why?" Dani asked confused. "I mean, I know he's a kludge and they have issues with your kind, but I thought he's gotten past that, I thought he'd left those Earth instincts behind."

"You don't really know him, Dani," Kane reminded her. "And I remember you telling me that he has issues with you being a slave when you first met him."

Dani shrugged vaguely remembering more about her past, and those times she had spent with Harper. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Kane asked.

"I don't know, guess I feel a little responsible, being Harper's friend," she offered. "I never really got on with Darla, but to be killed by a kludge," Dani spoke sincerely.

"Well, maybe it's for the best, we want a fresh start for this system," Kane stood up with fresh optimism. "Hopefully one day I'll be able to say that neither my brother nor my sister died in vain," he stated before leaving Dani to continue with her work.

Dani was silent, still unwinding the cables that had become tangled. Her thoughts were a million miles away, as she worked, and remembered.

"Dani, it was an accident, I wasn't thinking straight," Harper's voice then sounded.

"Cold blood Kane said, you killed her in cold blood," Dani simply responded without looking away from her work.

"You still see me as one of those, don't you? After everything you still consider me as a kludge."

"Don't turn this onto me, Seamus," Dani stated sharply.

"I did what I had to do on Earth, Dani, but that doesn't make me a bad person," Harper persisted, though seemed distracted himself, with sounds of him working on something could be heard in the background. "I accepted you as more than a slave, I thought you had done the same."

"I shouldn't have asked you to help me," Dani then moved away from the conduit where inside Harper was on his back fixing some of the systems. "I only said what I said so Kane wouldn't suspect you were here, helping me, not after what he's just discovered, Seamus," she added.

"If you say so," Harper frowned, his voice lacking conviction. "And I needed to escape the med deck," Harper added after a pause. "And I wanted to help, if Trance has her way I'll be wrapped up in blankets for the rest of the year doing nothing but being filled with drugs for her entertainment."

"This is serious, Harper," Dani suddenly snapped. "You killed Kane's sister in cold blood!"

"What do you want, Dani?" Harper returned sharply, still attempting to work. "She was holding me hostage at the time, or have you forgotten that?" The sound of a plate being slammed back into position signalled a brief silence.

"Someone's coming," Dani simply said to break the silence and moments later Beka arrived in the area.

"Where is he?" Beka asked, already scanning the room.

"Who? Kane?" Dani asked innocently.

"Don't play games," Beka warned. "Andromeda has done a complete scan of herself and this is the only place he could be, so where is Seamus Harper?"

"Did he kill Darla in cold blood?" Dani then asked, and Beka stopped her search abruptly, and looked at Dani.

"What?"

"Did Harper kill Darla in cold blood?"

Beka checked Dani's expression once more. "I shot her first, she was about to shoot Harper, and I couldn't let that happen," Beka explained with more calm about her now. "Then she was about to let Rico know that Harper was still alive, and he couldn't, at that point, let Rico find that out so he killed her."

Dani took in the information. "So it was some form of self defence," she attempted to justify the situation.

"Where is he?" Beka calmly asked, and this time Dani gestured to the conduit. Beka moved to the conduit and glanced inside, seeing Harper flat on his back, unmoving. "Harper?"

"Beka," Harper responded.

"What are you doing?" she had to ask, seeing that he wasn't working.

"I was just finishing up," He sighed, and slowly edged his way to the end of the conduit and with Beka's assistance, he managed to pull himself out.

"You're exhausted, come on, let's get you back to med deck," Beka sympathised, looking at Harper.

"I just needed a break, and to help," Harper offered looking at Dani as he spoke, and Beka kept hold of him, worried that he didn't have the energy to stand. "Waste of time though, seems my help isn't good enough for some now they've found their independence," Harper sniped towards Dani, and then shrugged Beka's hold off, wanting to stand alone.

"Harper, let's get going," Beka encouraged, sensing unnecessary conflict.

"That would probably be a wise move," Dani finally responded. "Seamus, I'm sorry ok, I was just upset for Kane, and I know I said some things."

"Forget it," Harper offered sharply, cutting Dani off. "I never want to see this ship again, or you, just don't bother."

"Harper," Beka showed her surprising to Harper's reaction.

"No, Beka, you know what this ship nearly did to me yet I still offered to help Dani fix it, have been fixing it, and you know the thanks I get?" he stressed. "I get accused of being a cold blooded killer, a kludge, one of 'them'," Harper continued angrily. "I just want to sleep and forget, I can't deal with this crap," he finished and moved from the area, leaving the ship.

Beka glanced at Dani who remained silent. "If you want to see Harper again, you come through me, understand?" Beka stated. "Right now, he needs rest not this, not little favours being called in to help you, no more using him, ok?"

"He offered to help," Dani protested. "And I never used him intentionally."

"And you could have said no to that help, Dani, if you really cared, if you ever did love him, you would have said no considering the state he's in," Beka stressed but saw little or no reaction from the woman. "You only had to look at him Dani, for once just look at him and see what you've played a part in doing to him," Beka snapped angrily. "If he never sees you again it'll be too soon, you get me?"

Dani let her head come back against the bulkhead as Beka walked away knowing deep down that she'd probably never see Harper again. With a frown, and only a small feeling of regret, she returned to her work already preparing to move on, to begin her new life at Kane's side, as Harper had said, discovering her new found independence.

To be concluded…


	45. Chapter 45

Part 45

The Maru edged out carefully from Rico's ship, backing out with precision partly under Andromeda's guidance with the additional skill of Beka, as she navigated from within. It had taken Kane and Dani a while to figure out how to power the hanger bay controls to free the Maru from its hold, and now they were releasing Beka's pride and joy to return to its own hanger deck on the Andromeda.

"Clear of the psycho ship," Harper called out from behind Beka, who was sat in the pilot's chair.

Beka could only smile, she could see the Maru was clear but has asked Harper to help her so she could get him away from med deck for an hour or so. After his exchange with Dani a couple of days earlier, she had seen that he had desperately needed the distraction.

"Coming around," Beka announced as she guided her ship outside the hull of the Andromeda to another hanger bay.

"Beka," Harper spoke up, and waited for Beka to acknowledge him before continuing. "Did you ask Dani and Kane to make themselves scarce, or was it just a wild coincidence?"

"Huh?" Beka asked with distraction, as she lined the ship up for the approach.

"When we had to board psycho ship to get onto the Maru, I didn't see either Kane or Dani, and I haven't done since the other day," Harper pointed out.

"Do you want to?" Beka asked casually, still focused on the controls.

"No," Harper was quick to answer. "Just thought I would, you know," he shrugged. "I killed Kane's sister and said some crappy stuff to Dani, just thought one of them might have found me by now to have their say."

"Harper, no one is after you anymore, not Dani, not Kane," Beka sighed. "The bounty is no more, so just try and relax."

"So you did warn them off," Harper stated knowingly, as he continued scanning the console. "Beka, I'm not fragile, I'm fine, and I keep telling you I'm fine."

"And I keep telling you, as does Trance, that you are not," Beka returned calmly. "Not yet," she finished as she turned to face him, the Maru now under Andromeda's guidance as it descended onto one of the docking bays. "You have to be careful, you may feel fine physically but that head of yours needs to be monitored, we can't take any chances and unnecessary conflict is definitely off the list, at least for a few more weeks."

"Its fine," Harper insisted, without looking up.

"And are you fine?" Beka asked firmly. "Ever since your words with Dani you've been snappy and irritable."

"Just tired," Harper frowned, and then looked up at Beka. "Ok, I feel tired that I admit to, ok?"

"I'm not arguing with you, Seamus," Beka calmly returned.

Harper shut down the console and moved away to join Beka by the pilot's chair. "I know, sorry I'm so grouchy," Harper offered with a sigh. "Dani is just one of many things that is bothering me, there's so much change going on around here, I don't like it, it feels like we're all breaking up, going our separate ways and I have nowhere to go."

"I know, I feel it too," Beka agreed sadly. "Dylan is spending more time on Tarn Vedra, I doubt that Rhade will come back now he has his family with him, with Rommie gone, and lets not even start with Trance, I have no idea what's up with her but she's been really distant lately, staying in her room and only coming out to dish out your meds," she sighed. "The commonwealth is all but dead again, just a memory."

"Hey, we could finally lay claim to the Andromeda," Harper brightened.

"Don't think Rommie would take too kindly to a hostile takeover," Beka grinned.

"Hey, who says it has to be hostile, I can be all about the love too," Harper returned, flashing a cheeky smile, and sounding more like his old self. "Reminds me, I really should try and put Rommie back together, now I have my sight back it should be easier."

"Just remember that taking it easy discipline you're currently under," Beka mocked.

"Guy has to have a hobby, and that was one hell of a hobby the first time," Harper protested, then lost his grin. "Least now the way things are I don't have to worry about my third strike," he frowned. "Dylan's probably forgotten now anyway, too distracted by finding his home, I bet he wants to leave this life far behind him and I don't blame him," Harper quickly spoke. "This life can really suck sometimes."

"Harper, Dylan was never serious about the whole strike business, he was just playing games with you," Beka spoke with care.

"I messed up, and he was right to be angry with me," Harper protested, and for a moment he seemed to be miles away in thought. "He couldn't trust me, hell, I didn't even trust myself, I don't ever want to be blind again, Beka, never," he added distantly, almost with fear.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Beka asked, in a moment of seriousness, seeing Harper was being fairly open about his feelings.

"I'm fine, just tired," Harper insisted, instantly snapping out of his thoughts and putting up a united front for Beka's benefit.

"Well if it makes you feel any better I don't think that Dylan has quit the Andromeda, or us, he just never expected to find his home again after all this time, he thought it had gone," Beka explained.

"It's my home that's gone now," Harper attempted a smile, but it became more of a frown. "I caught the footage on a sub-space transmission, it just blew up, like it had had enough," he idly spoke. "Not a bad trick to be able to do," he added, and then smirked when he saw Beka's concerned expression to his words, and he started shaking his head. "No, Beka, you don't have to put a damn suicide watch on me now, I'm just kidding, sheesh," he complained, as he leant on the back of the pilot's chair.

"Well hopefully we'll be able to forget all that's happened, and move on, forget Dani, that ship, Yussuf," Beka idly spoke.

"I'll never forget the feeling of being blind," Harper rested his head on his hands, as he continued to use the back of the pilot's chair to lean against. "Last few months have been a nightmare."

"Maybe all of this, what's happened is a sign for us to move on, use this opportunity to get rid of all the crap that's dogged us lately," Beka noted with some optimism. "You deserve some fun, and that should be our priority."

"I had fun being in control of that ship, is that wrong?" Harper then admitted, with a secret smile. "Being inside that mainframe was amazing, and once Rommie took away some of the pressure, I was able to realised what I had."

"You were aware of being in control of that ship?" Beka checked, and saw Harper shrug.

"Yeah, for the most part," Harper agreed. "I guess my offer to help Dani wasn't totally out of the goodness of my heart," he then added, and Beka immediately glared at him. "I was going to jack in, I really wanted to, but in the end I didn't, I couldn't," he stressed.

"Why not?" Beka needed to know what had stopped him.

"Scared," Harper frowned, hiding his expression as he buried his face in his hands. "Yussuf is one mixed up son of a," he stopped himself. "And Rico more so, who knows what or where they laid the traps to capture people like me, I didn't want to be a slave again."

"People like you?" Beka didn't understand.

"Yussuf's whole empire, and everything around him, was built on manipulation," Harper explained. "Plus a healthy dose of paranoia and distrust," he added.

"You know that he had some hold on you?" Beka was intrigued by Harper's assumption.

"I have to believe it, or what's happened to me will just blow my mind," Harper stated with seriousness. "I can't accept that all that time I was thinking clearly, Beka, I just can't, it's easier to believe that somehow, Yussuf was behind it all, pulling the strings," Harper stressed, needing Beka to believe him, as he glanced over to her.

"He was controlling you, and Dani, mind control of some sort," Beka simply answered, unable to completely believe what she was saying, but believing it enough knowing that Harper needed her to understand.

"Figures," Harper frowned, but showed no surprise to her words.

"So, you wanted to feel the power again?"

Harper looked uneasy. "Not really, at least I don't think so," Harper admitted awkwardly. "Just knowing I could have that control, that was what attracted me back," he sighed heavily. "I never had all that much control in the first place, by the time Rommie had removed enough systems to relieve the pressure from me, she'd only left me some crappy service systems to oversee, could hardly take over the universe being only in control of bathroom control and heated floor tiles in the officer's quarters," Harper smirked at the memory.

"I never realised you were so aware of what was going on," Beka seemed genuinely taken aback.

"You made it to engineering didn't you?" Harper then spoke. "I said that there was one thing that could stop me working for Rico, and so I needed you by my side," Harper offered a little abashed. "Thanks, by the way, you helped a lot."

"I should have known," Beka smiled, as she undid the restraints of the pilot's chair and stood up.

"Anyway, shouldn't you be explaining a whole heap of stuff to me?" Harper then asked.

"You still want to know all that stuff?" Beka checked with wide eyes.

"Maybe it can wait till I'm really bored on med deck," Harper offered with a knowing smile. "Right now, I'm just glad whatever happened, happened, because that means I'm right here on the Maru, with you, and that means it's ok."

"Sticking together?" Beka simply asked in response.

"Always," Harper agreed wholeheartedly, showing some relief to Beka's question. "Only got each other now, right?"

"Nothing's changed," Beka reached out and embraced Harper.

"Good, I hate change," Harper held tight to Beka, taking what he could from the hug, needing the reassurance.

"I hope you don't hate all change."

Beka and Harper quickly released each other on hearing a familiar voice, yet an old voice at the same time. They had long been docked on the Andromeda, yet time had passed as they had spoken. Now the two friend's just looked at each other, unsure but at the same time convinced they had both heard right.

"Trance?" Harper ventured, moving a little forward, needing to see her.

"Where are you?" Beka asked, following Harper and staying close.

"Here," Trance announced making them both jump nearly out of their skin.

"I forgot she used to do that," Harper quickly recovered, and then it hit him as he stared back at the purple features of an old friend. "Is that really you?"

The purple Trance simply nodded her head, and then saw the confusion. "I had to change before to fulfil my destiny, that's done now," she began to explain. "No one would have taken a purple girl seriously if she suddenly claimed to be a part of a long lost planet's sun," she offered as if her reasoning was obvious.

"You have a tail again," Harper noticed, brimming on the edge of excitement at seeing his purple pixie again, but managing to hold back. "You did this for me?" he then checked.

"For you," Trance confirmed. "I just didn't have the advantage of a tesseract problem to speed up the process this time."

"So that's what you've been doing," Harper grinned.

"We just need to find Rev and we have the old crew back together," Beka noted, trying to relive the stunned atmosphere that still hung around the three friends.

"This is freaking unbelievable," Harper finally couldn't help himself as he eagerly embraced Trance, and his hold suggested he wasn't planning on letting go anytime soon, as Trance wrapped her arms around him.

"Things are going to change," Beka simply said, more to herself as she stepped back.

Trance pulled back and looked at Beka. "Change for the better, for all of us, no more struggle or pain," Trance smiled, and for a moment her smile convinced both Harper and Beka that she was speaking the truth, but only for a moment.

The end.


End file.
